Club 80-90 Forums

Was trying to find a thread to tag this info to, but nothing really relevant.

I know someone asked if the lock wafers are the same in original door handles and aftermarket one is the sub-£20 range?

I can confirm that they are indeed the same. Had one on the bench just now. Aftermarket ones tend to be singular keys rather than pairs so if you buy new front ones for instance, the keys are different. However, if you pull apart your old handles and salvage the good wafers, its easy enough to re-key one lock to match the other and carry on through to the slider and tailgate, pretty much using the salvaged parts and nothing else. Mostly its wear on the handles themselves that create problems - that and missing/broken springs although suitable springs can be bought cheaply on ebay anyway.

Incidentally, the sub-£20 handles are ok. I couldn't really see anything fundamentally wrong with the construction at all. They do the job.

The only real hassles you're likely to encounter are corroded grub screws which I had to drill through in one instance. The new handles are held together with pins so easier to get apart.

Only tailgate lock to do now!

CovKid wrote:Was trying to find a thread to tag this info to, but nothing really relevant.

I know someone asked if the lock wafers are the same in original door handles and aftermarket one is the sub-£20 range?

I can confirm that they are indeed the same. Had one on the bench just now. Aftermarket ones tend to be singular keys rather than pairs so if you buy new front ones for instance, the keys are different. However, if you pull apart your old handles and salvage the good wafers, its easy enough to re-key one lock to match the other and carry on through to the slider and tailgate, pretty much using the salvaged parts and nothing else. Mostly its wear on the handles themselves that create problems - that and missing/broken springs although suitable springs can be bought cheaply on ebay anyway.

Incidentally, the sub-£20 handles are ok. I couldn't really see anything fundamentally wrong with the construction at all. They do the job.

The only real hassles you're likely to encounter are corroded grub screws which I had to drill through in one instance. The new handles are held together with pins so easier to get apart.

Only tailgate lock to do now!

Yep I rekeyed the whole van after getting two new front door lock barrels a re-distributing wafers around. A good and satisfying job!

Think my slider handle is a bit past it though, pretty worn grooves in the barrel housing.

On the slider, which is the one I had to drill out grubscrew, I decided that if I ever had to work on it again, a complete handle replacement would be needed, so I simply fitted a self-tapping screw instead and cut off flush. I suppose I could have made a new thread but couldn't see it being worth the effort this time around.

After fitting, I tried re-keyed locks with numerous VW keys I have (including ones that looked very similar profile) and none of the locks work with anything other than proper key. Perfect key fit and no play.

I gather a complete lock set is around £250, so my recommendation is spend the £30 replacing front door locks then re-key until you've got a matching set. Much cheaper, and I agree, very satisfying to do. Incidentally, pound shop matt black paint (used 3 coats as well as their primer) is a perfect match for locks as it comes out slightly silk finish.

Does the ignition switch use the same wafers? Is it possible to re-key that in the same way?

Good question. I didn't bother but this may help: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=540143" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Love these money saving tips

garyd wrote:Does the ignition switch use the same wafers? Is it possible to re-key that in the same way?

Or perhaps it is easier to re-wafer the door locks to match the existing ignition barrel, so long as that is not too worn.

Which it will be unless its been replaced

CovKid wrote:Which it will be unless its been replaced

Then replace the ignition barrel and match the door locks to the new one.

That would work.

Is there any where to get a few spare wafers or is the easiest way to get a cheap lock barrel?

In my current case I have 1 Key for ignition, drivers & sliding door. Tailgate on a separate key and no key for the passenger door.

I was going to re-tumble the passenger and tailgate locks but wondered if I'd likely have the right type of wafers at my disposal. Appreciate there are alternatives to grind or reduce the number of wafers but not ideal.

Never grind them. All you'll do is increase the number of key shapes that will fit the lock. A few s/h locks for parts is perhaps easiest/cheapest otherwise you can buy cheap lock sets for other models (Golf etc) and just strip them apart for the wafers - usually cheaper than hunting for wafer sets on their own. You don't actually need many wafers to key the lot as you're juggling them anyway.

For spares I should think these might be a solution: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-GOLF-II-2- ... pxknu_j3Hg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ha no way I'd be grinding the wafers, good call at looking at other VW locks as a single mk2 handle with lock barrel is a fiver. I just thought having 3 sets if wafers gives me a better chance of retumbling 2 locks.

I've just taken apart a broken sliding door look and got the tumbler out so I can put it back in a new handle.

While I'm doing this I'm trying to get my keys waffer code. The waffers seem to be labeled a b c d.

The waffers on eBay are 1 2 3 and 4

Does anyone know if a=1 b=2 etc