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MG TD TF 1500 - Glove Box Lock

I'd like to have some locking storage in my car. Has anyone installed a glove box lock or come up with another idea for locked storage?
Corey Pedersen

Corey-- Are you talking about a TF? I have home made covers for mine and I mounted chrome locks to them. They work just great. The right side is locked and the left side, though it looks locked, I leave unlocked so I can grab sunglasses or such when I need them. If you have a TF let me know your address and I can send some pictures of my setup to you. There are also some for sale on E-bay. They look really nice but I do not know how they mount over the glove boxes.

Larry
LD Kanaster

Larry, no, mine is a TD. It would be helpful if our owned cars would display in our postings.
Corey Pedersen

Corey,
Add the car info to "your name" under customize.
That is what I did to get mine on here.

My TF has locking glove boxes and I put a lock on my storage in the boot as well.


David Sheward

Cory, when I bought my TD back in '62, the DPO had drilled a hole in the original glove box cover and installed a simple key lock with a lever attached to the back side. As the key rotated in the cylinder, the lever was long enough to slide behind a metal brace he installed thus providing a "safe" glove box.
The key was long gone so after I got it open, all the parts were trashed. Maybe Dave can give you a lead on the source for his locks. Might be the same basic idea.
Jim Merz

https://www.google.com/search?q=desk+drawer+lock&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Mort (50 TD "Mobius")

Corey, look at http://ttypes.org/ttt2/mg-td-all-clear from the thread down below. Follow the links in the article to the one about the guy's 30-some extras done to his car. One thing is the addition of a glove box lock. Bud
Bud Krueger

His source was www.EuropaSVT.com Bud
Bud Krueger

Thanks for the input gents. I have my dashboard out of the car for veneering and electrical rebuild, so this is a good time for a lock upgrade.

Dave, I'll update my "name" as per your suggestion.
Corey Pedersen

Corey

If I might make a suggestion. A great storage place is in the passenger footwell. You can cut a small door, add a few hinges and a lock if you want, but as it is covered by the carpet, it makes a great area to keep things. It also has a good amount of storage space.
Bruce Cunha

Bruce, can you provide a photo of your footwell installation?
Corey Pedersen

Boot storage for spares (TF).
http://www.ttalk.info/Sheward.htm

(click on Izzy's pic)
David Sheward

Corey, I found several candidate key locks for your glove box door on FeeBay. They might not be what you had in mind but will get you started on the process of selection. The most critical thing to consider is that the lock cylinder is of appropriate length to be compatible with the thickness of the wood door.
Good Luck!

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Jim Merz

Thx for all the input. Plenty of food for thought.
Corey Pedersen

Corey: I ordered a chrome back mount drawer lock to install in the glove compartment door. (Under $10 with 2 keys). It will displace the knob, so also had to order a small drawer pull. This was from Lee Valley. The Canadian page for the drawer locks is: www.leevalley.com/en/hardware/page.aspx?p=41843&cat=3,43631,43634,43638&ap=1
Lee Valley also have a US catalog & I imagine it's similar.
I'm holding off on mine until I've built a wood facia board (dash)
Peter
Peter Pope

Corey. I made this modification for a friends TD. Have not done it on mine yet. I just cut just outside the X on the footrest area. Used rivets to rivet in an aluminum lip on the inside of the cut out area. Put a piano hinge across the top and a filing cabinet lock on the bottom.

Been some years, but I thing it took about 2-3 hours to make it.
Bruce Cunha

Do drawer locks generally require locking to withdraw the key? I assumed that I needed a knob in addition to the lock to open the unlocked glovebox door, however a knob would be redundant if the door can only be opened with the key inserted in the lock.
Corey Pedersen TD #7169

Corey - Even though my dash isn't finished with gauges and switches, etc., one of the first things I did was install a lock above the door. The key can be removed in either the locked or unlocked position. The inside of the door has a peg with a head on it to provide a locking surface. I kept a knob on the outside. The second photo shows the inside of the glove box and you can see the lock tang. I added a couple of small cables to limit the travel of the lid. That keeps it horizontal so the cup holders work. Good Luck - Lou VanK


Lou Van Koningsveld

Here's the inside


Lou Van Koningsveld

From an older thread I published some years ago:

When I was looking for a way to lock the glove box of my TD, I came across this little insert lock which was used in the old days to convert simple keyhole locks to security locks. The nice thing about these locks is the small footprint of the actual key (about 7mm in diameter) which only required a small increase of the bore for the knob which was there anyway (key and bore in left picture).
By cutting the shaft of one of the keys and inserting its back end into the old knob, the whole thing looks fully original when the key is in the lock. When the lock is engaged (middle picture, inside of the door), the key/knob can be removed and fits in the smallest pocket. In the open position (right) the key is fixed in the lock so that the door can be opened and closed as usual.
Not that this will prevent serious break in, but it feels safe enough to leave stuff in the glove box that I would otherwise have to carry around.
The one challenge though was to get hold of one of these locks. I found this one on ebay by chance, but I donīt think they make them anymore since most people now have safety locks from the beginning. On the positive side - if you find one, it is probably of similar age as the car :-)

Mike


Mike Fritsch

Lou, what are those black things on the inside of your glove box door?
Thanks.

Jud
J K Chapin

Jud - Those are a pair of folding cup holders. Here's a shot of one opened. I've been a TD owner for 48 years and always wanted a place to rest a can of pop, or a coffee. With the little cables, we have a (hopefully) stable, horizontal surface. They are removable, held in place with velcro. Lou PS - The hole next to the glove box is for my accesories plug.


Lou Van Koningsveld

Nice work Lou! As the blind man said, "Now I see"!!!
Jim Merz

Now that's just down right cool.

Thanks.

Jud
J K Chapin

This thread was discussed between 08/02/2013 and 11/02/2013

MG TD TF 1500 index

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