Lock Dismantling guide, with Pictures
Posted: 18 Apr 2013, 16:05
So ive never been happy with any of the locks on my van. I had 3 keys, and the only one that felt 'not sloppy' was the ignition, which was replaced after 1 day (!) of owning the van, when the barrel collapsed and failed leaving us stranded in a locking car park in winter.
CAB DOOR LOCKS
I bought 2 new cab door lock cylinders from 'custom and commercial', which came with 2 keys each. I used this excellent guide to remove and dismantle the cab handles.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewto ... sc&start=0
I re-tumbled the two new lock cylinders to the same key, by re-ordering the tumblers/wafers, and lightly filing down one or perhaps 2 of the brass non complying tumblers to make them flush. Im a bit dissapointed at the quality of the pictures i took (my girlfriend was away and had taken the camera!), so im not covering that here, though you can find that somewhere else im sure. Its not hard- golden rule is dont take the key out of the cylinder without making sure the tumblers/wafers wont fly out the window. just keep your fingers around the barrell as you go. I even enjoyed the puzzle aspect to it. Just keep everything clean and concentrate!
TAILGATE (MINE IS LATE, BUT EARLY IS VERY SIMILAR)
remove the three 6mm allen heads on the tailgate..
Two parts will now be loose- the mechanism, and the lock barrell housing. nothing else sprang out or separated. Wiggle them out and onto the bench.
bit of a clean up and it all looks nicer..
the long lever on it is a factory modification welded on, so it can be unlocked from inside. Its quite common i believe , but not standard vw.
The lock housing has a rolled spring pin on the back, which needs tapping out with a suitable punch
halfway out...
and then she comes apart. you can see the pin, lever arm and barrel coming out.
Same again, degrease, clean up, and re-tumble to the new key. Pop it back into the housing, check it works, then carefully tap the pin back through to seal the unit and hook it all back into the van. done!
SLIDER
By this point I understood how they all worked. C&C were out of stock for the slider lock cylinders, so i thought id just refurb the one i had and re-tumble it to the new key. Theres a point where the lock cylinder itself (not the brass wafers) are worn, and the key guides themselves are a bit past it. This creates the wobbly key syndrome. Mine wasnt too bad, but ill probably replace it for new at some point though. A good degrease and clean out does wonders anyway. My pictures are terrible for this so to avoid confusion im not putting them up. I think its in another thread though!
FUEL CAP
The next day, after id thrown my old worn keys into the bin i remembered about the petrol cap. phew! the lock cylinder is very similar, but shorter. My key only ever goes in half way- i believe some use different keys, but mine uses the same one. the cylinder is shorter, with less wafers..
the back..
tap the pin out with a suitable punch..
bit of a pop when you knock that pin out because of the spring, so keep a hold of it all, and keep track of all the bits, and their order! this pic is only some of them, the base ring was actually 3 pieces by the time id fiddled and cleaned it all up..
when i re-tumbled the petrol cap cylinder, the wafers didnt spring out at all, i had to pull them out with the pliers. not because of gunk, but a little notch in each wafer.
====
and thats it. keep your head down do it when everyone's out, and remember to not let the wafers pop out - ie, keep the key in at all times, and when you have to take it out, be careful. get everything clean with degreaser and a toothbrush and water flush. I did mine while the van was out on the street, one lock at a time. it would have been better in a garage, but just keep an eye out the window i guess!
CAB DOOR LOCKS
I bought 2 new cab door lock cylinders from 'custom and commercial', which came with 2 keys each. I used this excellent guide to remove and dismantle the cab handles.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewto ... sc&start=0
I re-tumbled the two new lock cylinders to the same key, by re-ordering the tumblers/wafers, and lightly filing down one or perhaps 2 of the brass non complying tumblers to make them flush. Im a bit dissapointed at the quality of the pictures i took (my girlfriend was away and had taken the camera!), so im not covering that here, though you can find that somewhere else im sure. Its not hard- golden rule is dont take the key out of the cylinder without making sure the tumblers/wafers wont fly out the window. just keep your fingers around the barrell as you go. I even enjoyed the puzzle aspect to it. Just keep everything clean and concentrate!
TAILGATE (MINE IS LATE, BUT EARLY IS VERY SIMILAR)
remove the three 6mm allen heads on the tailgate..
Two parts will now be loose- the mechanism, and the lock barrell housing. nothing else sprang out or separated. Wiggle them out and onto the bench.
bit of a clean up and it all looks nicer..
the long lever on it is a factory modification welded on, so it can be unlocked from inside. Its quite common i believe , but not standard vw.
The lock housing has a rolled spring pin on the back, which needs tapping out with a suitable punch
halfway out...
and then she comes apart. you can see the pin, lever arm and barrel coming out.
Same again, degrease, clean up, and re-tumble to the new key. Pop it back into the housing, check it works, then carefully tap the pin back through to seal the unit and hook it all back into the van. done!
SLIDER
By this point I understood how they all worked. C&C were out of stock for the slider lock cylinders, so i thought id just refurb the one i had and re-tumble it to the new key. Theres a point where the lock cylinder itself (not the brass wafers) are worn, and the key guides themselves are a bit past it. This creates the wobbly key syndrome. Mine wasnt too bad, but ill probably replace it for new at some point though. A good degrease and clean out does wonders anyway. My pictures are terrible for this so to avoid confusion im not putting them up. I think its in another thread though!
FUEL CAP
The next day, after id thrown my old worn keys into the bin i remembered about the petrol cap. phew! the lock cylinder is very similar, but shorter. My key only ever goes in half way- i believe some use different keys, but mine uses the same one. the cylinder is shorter, with less wafers..
the back..
tap the pin out with a suitable punch..
bit of a pop when you knock that pin out because of the spring, so keep a hold of it all, and keep track of all the bits, and their order! this pic is only some of them, the base ring was actually 3 pieces by the time id fiddled and cleaned it all up..
when i re-tumbled the petrol cap cylinder, the wafers didnt spring out at all, i had to pull them out with the pliers. not because of gunk, but a little notch in each wafer.
====
and thats it. keep your head down do it when everyone's out, and remember to not let the wafers pop out - ie, keep the key in at all times, and when you have to take it out, be careful. get everything clean with degreaser and a toothbrush and water flush. I did mine while the van was out on the street, one lock at a time. it would have been better in a garage, but just keep an eye out the window i guess!