MGB Glovebox Lid – Buffer and Catch (AHH6291 + AHH6292) – reproduction

UPDATE June 18th2025: The 3MF file for this part is now available on Makerworld. https://makerworld.com/de/models/1529509-mgb-glovebox-catch-ahh6291-and-ahh6292#profileId-1603845

Even after 60 years most MGB spare parts are relatively easy to find. There are a few exceptions however. And the Buffer and Catch for the earlier metal dashboards is one of them. None of the stores I looked at – eg. Rimmerbros, Moss or Angloparts will list them as available. Occasionally used parts pop up on Ebay.co.uk – with prices ranging between 25GBP up to 50GBP. Mildred’s dashboard only had the catch (somewhat rusted) – the buffer disintegrated as some point. The two LHD dashboards I bought for the conversion also both came without the catch and the buffer – as do most of the dashboards offered on Ebay or at part swaps/markets – like the one in Stoneleigh park.

Last year I asked my son if he could 3D print for me – but instead I got the 3D printer at Xmas, which is basically as saying: Dad, you can figure this out yourself. So I did. Figuring out the basic shape in Freecad was fairly easy. I started with the catch, which I initially considered cutting out of a piece of sheet metal. After that the buffer was also measured and sketched. Basically it is just a slightly backward angled cuboid with a cylinderical indent in the middle. The orginial buffer is a 1mm thick piece of metal that has a bend back part. My guess is that the original rubber was bond to this through vulcanization. Reproducing this would be somewhat of a challenge – especially if you only need a few of those – but printing it is easy.

TPU is a rubber material that can be printed. It comes in different shore hardnesses that are represented by a number. The higher the number, the stiffer/harder the material. For the MGB buffer TPU 95A from Bambu seems to be close to the original one. But instead of gluing the rubber part to a piece of sheet metal – I decided to print both parts in one go with two different materials. The catch and lower part of the buffer are printed in PETG (ABS or ASA would also work). I then spend some time digging into more options with the slicer – in the end I followed this great guide on Youtube. Due to a small mistake in FreeCad my object configuration was not perfect – but once I understood the concept I worked with a height modifier and a pause for the filament change.

The result is a combined catch & buffer design with a strong PETG plate and TPU as rubber buffer. Dimensions are currently exactly like the orginial. Another benefit of this approach is that I can now slightly modify the buffer pitch and depth – allowing adjustment of the glovebox lid for better alignment. If somebody is interested in the print files or needs a reproduction buffer – let me know. I am fine with sharing it as long it is not used commercially. (might make it available on the Bambu MakerSpace)