Installing the lighting in the glove compartment of a Volkswagen Polo sedan with your own hands
Engineers of the Packard company, which is the ancestor of the glove box in cars, would be very surprised to see how seriously their invention has been transformed.
The prototype of the glovebox dates back to the early 1900s, when drivers needed to wear gloves while driving. Since many cars at the time were of the open-top type, i.e. without a roof, special gloves were developed for motorists to protect their hands against frostbite and dirt that accumulated on the steering wheel rim.
Thus, the first gloveboxes were used to store gloves worn during car trips. The functionality of today’s glove boxes has changed considerably. What you can’t find in the glove box. The recess has turned into a holding tank for various household sundries, trash, and even food. You can find anything in the box except the gloves themselves.
Many gloveboxes in modern cars have begun to mount plafonds to illuminate the niche. With the lighting you won’t have to “rummage” in the glove box for a long time to find the thing you need. It’s enough to press the switch, and the hole will illuminate the electric light.
Unfortunately, there is no such miracle on Volkswagen Polo sedan in any complete set. Germans created the Spartan image of the classical car with the minimum of comfort, but with high practicality.
However, nothing will stop self-taught craftsmen: as German manufacturer was lazy to fasten illumination in a dashboard, let’s make it by our own hands. Moreover, the procedure will not take much time, and its complexity will not cause problems even for a beginner motorist.
Necessary accessories and removal of the glove compartment
For the work will need a plafond. There are many types, brands and colors on the market. Most owners of the Polo sedan choose “octagon” plafonds. They are used mainly to create an additional source of light in the cabin or to illuminate the license plates.
You can’t do without wiring too: how will we connect the light? So we buy a small piece of acoustic wire (one meter will be enough).
In “menu” you should also include an end switch – without it sending a signal to on-board electrical system will be impossible.
To be able to hide all the unnecessary roughness and connection elements, take a heat shrink tube in the store. In a pinch you can use a simple duct tape. Finally, to fix the plafond in the glove compartment of the Polo sedan, it is recommended to buy a good glue.
For the convenience of work, you should disassemble the glove box in the recess. To do this, you will need a flat screwdriver and a Torx wrench for “20”.
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Open the glove compartment and see that it is held on three bolts.
Now you can do the main thing – light wiring. Before you start drilling a slot in the glove compartment, you must make a template “in the image and likeness” of the plafond. The plafond itself can be slightly “modified” to give aesthetics to the new look of the glove box. We are talking about the reflector, which is easy to construct from foil: we cut a piece of silver paper, carefully open the body of the plafond and insert the “cloth” inside. Then we glue the body, and the “modification” is ready for use.
Mounting the light in the glove compartment
The sequence of steps for installing the light in the glove box of the sedan:
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According to the template we make holes in the side wall of the glove compartment and cut an opening for the plafond.
As you can see there is nothing difficult in the procedure. Standard plafond for sedan Polo can buy for 200 rubles. In time, the operation will take no more than an hour. But the result of the work done with his hands will please the owner of the German “budget car” for more than one month.
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For the convenience of work it is necessary to disassemble the stowage box in the recess. Unscrew the five screws inside One near the cabin filter At the same time pull the right side toward you by unbending the edge and pulling the glove compartment to the door.
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One for the size of the switch, the other for the wire. Let me just remind you that the plug that goes into the cigarette lighter:
Bend back the right side of the drawer and remove .
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All the more, that the procedure will take a little time, and its complexity will not cause problems even for the novice car enthusiast. Necessary accessories and removal of the glove compartment For the work will require a plafond. There are many types, brands and colors on the market.
They are used mainly to create an additional source of light in the cabin or for license plate illumination. Without wiring, too, you can’t do without: Therefore, buy a small piece of acoustic wire one meter will be enough. To hide all unnecessary irregularities and connection elements, take shrink tubing from the store.
As a last resort, you can use simple duct tape. Finally, to fix the plafond in the glove compartment of the Polo sedan, it is recommended to buy a good glue. For the convenience of work, you should disassemble the glove box in the recess.
Lighting in the glove compartment VW Polo Sedan
Open the glove compartment and see that it is held on three bolts. We undermine the side cover with a screwdriver and overcoming the resistance of locks, unscrew it. We unbend the right side of the box and remove it. I have 6 LEDs. The end cap and a round pin for it. Duct tape, 5 mom pins, 2 dad pins.
One lug with a 6mm hole. Let’s disassemble the glove box.
I will say right away that there is nothing difficult. You pick it up with a screwdriver in the middle and remove the side panel.
I don’t know about you, but it interfered with my taking out the glove box. Unscrew the five screws inside One near the cabin filter At the same time pull the right side toward you bending the edge and pull the glove compartment to the door.
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Drill a hole with a diameter of 6mm and screw in a small end cap. Insert the round pin of the positive wire from the LED strip white with a red stripe. Let me remind you who forgot that it is always necessary to unplug the plus wire. Who is not planning to install the charger for the phone can skip this point.
And those who want to disassemble the charger. We solder the wires, sketching the soldering points and the color of the wires.
I did not make a sketch because the chargers are different from each other and it could mislead you. Let me remind you only that the plug which is inserted into the cigarette lighter: Center is a plus, and on each side is ground. One is the size of the switch and the other is the wire. There are snaps on the switch.
Do not go overboard with the diameter of the holes! I have not explained, attached a diagram below. And from another angle. We use cloth tape to insulate the holes so that the wires won’t rattle later on.
That’s how it turned out. And this is for those who are not planning to install the charger for the phone. Wires from cigarette lighter led to the glove compartment. Reassemble in reverse order and that’s what we have.
