I FOUND IT!!!!! Two hours of searching every box, bin, drawer, cabinet and countertop, then I decided to check outside around the scrap pile, and there it was in the mud where it?s sat for probably the last four years.
In designing my center console, I really wanted to find this latch to design it around. I knew it was somewhere!
A day wasted, but worth it.
Very rough draft...
This padded topper from an early V70 (mounted backwards) will be hinged separately and held down with a magnet. Lift it to access the latch.
The small box in front is for the radio... something like this marine gauge unit.
I considered a cup holder of some sort, but it seemed like a waste of space down there. I?ll make something to clamp to the roll bar above the shifters at some point.
Here is what was behind the armrest that needed to come off in order for the lit to have full range of motion.
I had to tear the seat apart to cut this off without scarfing up the fabric or foam. You can see the plate I made to cover the hole in the fabric in the last pic in this series.
Here are the hinges on the console. I used old door hinges with removable pins. If the Volvo glove box latch?s internal mechanism ever failed, I wanted to make sure I could still get the lid off without cutting it apart.
I bent some strips to 110? and welded them along the top to make the rim stiffer and pleasant to reach past. I bent the front/center area square to act as the catch for the latch.
Here is the tubing framework that got welded to the cage. The box drops down onto four studs and is secured with locknuts inside.
I raised it up a bit to work as an armrest, and I lopped off the top corners to more-properly follow the contour of the pad and compliment the look of the stereo box under it.
Upper lid open to expose the latch. You can see the magnet next to the latch. It sticks to a screw in the lid.
Opened...
The framework will get finish-welded next time the cage is out.
I took it out for a thorough test drive. I figured out the cause of some steering vagueness... all four of my tires registered at 0 psi on my gauge. The tires are so old and hard, they support the weight with no air. After I fixed that, road test felt great, and I tested 4wd with good success. Front driveshaft had no noticeable or visible vibration with hubs locked in 2wd at ~45 mph, and crawl gearing feels good. Not a hardcore rock crawler, but good general gearing at 40.5:1 compound low. This, on 32s, feels the same as my 3b that has 47:1 on 33s, plus it feels like it lugs better than the old Jeep engine. The fuel injection has a bit of a ?governor effect? down low. Also, the parking brake is very strong; it easily locks the rear tires.
Very pleased so far.