Defroster with glove box?

[h3towel]

Good afternoon all. I am attending build school at the end of the summer and purchasing my mkIV sometime in October. I am really excited and have dreamed of owning one of these for years. I'm very good with following directions, but not so good with free styling, which brings me to my question. I live in Virginia. Any car built after 1967 is required to have a defroster. I could title it as a 1965 replica/kit car to get around this, but would only be allowed to drive 5000 miles per year. While I don't think that I will be driving it that much, I don't want to have to pay attention to my mileage. I want a glove box. I need some place to keep my title for when I get pulled over (I have a heavy foot). Is there a kit I can buy which is just a defroster? If not, has anyone installed the factory five heater/defroster in a manner that allows them to still have the glove box? Any help and pictures would be greatly appreciated. Also, if there are any mkIV owners in the Hampton Roads area, I would love to get together and pick your brain and take a look at your build. I'll buy the beer.

[Dagwoods]

Hello,

I and many others have used shallow gloveboxes with the factory five heater. Unsure of any defroster only options.

http://acroadsterinteriors.com/Gloveboxes.htm

[Ducky2009]

I made a 2 1/4" push-out box for the heater (pushed it into the engine compartment 2 1/4") and made my own glovebox. It ended up being 3" deep at the top a 4" deep at the bottom.... The back of the glovebox matched the angle on the heater. Mine is aluminum welded together, but you could make it from sheet metal and rivet it together.

Here's a like to my photo galleries on it.

Heater
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/album.php?albumid=1083

Glovebox
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/album.php?albumid=1083

[R. Button]

You might consider using what Richard designed, a Plenum, that fits under the dash. Combined with some dash defroster vents it feeds the heat to the windscreen nicely.
http://www.northracecars.com/Plenum1.jpg at North Racers - he's listed as a vendor here.
it solves the space issue and the problems of routing hoses behind the dash too.

Contact Richard to be sure it fits in the Mark IV!

[DadofThree]

I could title it as a 1965 replica/kit car to get around this, but would only be allowed to drive 5000 miles per year. While I don't think that I will be driving it that much, I don't want to have to pay attention to my mileage.

Is that state law, or insurance rules? If insurance, check with Midstate Insurance as they have an unlimited mileage option. Mine is registered as a '65 and has unlimited mileage option with insurance, but i'm in georgia. Sorry, can't help with the defrost info.

[RR20AC]

Not all that hard to do. 2.5” bump out box will fit with the premade vinyl dash and the vintage air heater option of the kit

[h3towel]

Thank you so much everyone for all the info. This really helps a lot.

[phileas_fogg]

If you go the bump out route, be sure your wiper motor fits, and that you have enough clearance to mount the tubing & nut for the wiper cable. You may have to extend the face of the bump out so that the motor mounts to that, rather than trying to route the wiper cable over the bump out. It gets tight quickly.


John

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1907/30038248737_1dac74a015_k.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/MLnSQi)IMG_5025 (https://flic.kr/p/MLnSQi) by jhsitton (https://www.flickr.com/photos/91016165@N07/), on Flickr

[RR20AC]

I did have to notch the box slightly. Nothing in that corner though and the wipers work amazingly well.

[ckrueger]

I did Alex's shallow box with the FFR heater/defroster. It worked fine and all the "paperwork" fits in fine. Not useful for much else. I also wanted the glovebox to help breakup the big plain dash. Just a personal preference.

[CraigS]

Put your glove box on the rear cockpit panel between your seat backs.

[WIS89]

H3towel-

You have already gotten some great answers with respect to the glove box and heater sharing the space in that corner of the dash. I would like to second Craig's suggestion, as well as offer an additional alternative. As Craig mentions, there is a nice amount of space between the seats to put a cubby. Whether you use one of the pre-made kits to do this, or make something yourself, you can easily find enough room to store all your paperwork, and a fair amount more. You can also easily fashion a lock to make this space relatively secure. There are plenty of examples of how folks made this space work.

I also think that placing the paperwork in a weatherproof bag in one of Herb's door panels would also work. He makes great panels that have a pouch that is perfect for storing things like paperwork and other items right there next to you.

Bottom line is there are a couple of options available to you, and likely a few more that I haven't considered.

Enjoy the build school, and get ready for an exciting time building your own Roadster! You won't regret a second; your only regret will be not doing it sooner!!

Regards,

Steve