I have a 68 vert and the drivers side will not lock with the key, no problem from inside the car.

Since I had the door disassembled to work on the window I took out the lock cylinder. Messed with it but still can't get it to turn, it seems to bind after only 5-10 degrees of rotation. Passenger side works fine.

The 68 lock cylinder is not made aftermarket and is a hard to find piece.
What should I do?

 

Take your key and the lock cylinder to a good locksmith and have it re-keyed. Should cost about $10.00.

cc

 

Exactly what I did with my '68.

 

My 68 came with no keys at all, so I took both door locks and the ignition lock in to the locksmith. The locks were all cleaned and keyed for around $25.00 IIRC.
I had to bring in the dash panel because without the key I couldn't get the lock out

 

To answer your question: "Can a lock be re-keyed"

Yes.

 

I just checked.... mine's still in the garage.

-W

 

 

Thanks fellas
I'll look for a locksmith

 

Well I took the lock cylinder to a lock shop this morning and the guy at the counter said he'd never seen a lock like this. He said he'd have the owner check it when he came in to see if they could do anything.
He said they would have to take it apart. That concerns me.
Should it be that difficult or confusing to a locksmith?

 

In a quick nutshell, your door locks are serviceable. Factory on your 1968, the keys for the ignition and doors were the same. Door locks can be removed once the door panel is removed. As far as door locks are concerned, the chrome face caps are peeled off with a special tool and the cylinder plug can be removed and serviced. The original key can be made or it can be rekeyed to another key if that key will enter the plug. If the plug is shot, it can be replaced. We stock universal plugs for door locks, which will accept any GM single sided key produced from 1965 and up. Replacement chrome caps are used when putting the door locks back together. Also carry dust shutters, pawl retaining clips and the whole lock if needed and they can be coded to your key.

A key is required to remove an in dash ignition. Simply turn to accessories, take a piece of round spring steel or a small paper clip and insert it into the small hole on the face of the ignition cylinder. Pressing it in will depress a small brass pin, under spring tension, which will allow the cylinder to turn slightly counter clockwise and the cylinder will easily come out. If you have no key, there are ways to do it, let me know. We also stock ignitions for both in dash as yours and column mounted ignitions. There must be someone in your area who can service them but if not, you have an option. You can send them to me. I own a locksmith shop.

John

 

Thanks John,
I'll stop by the lock shop after work to see how things went. If they were unable to fix it, I'll send it to you.
Incidentally, do you know of any replacement available for the entire push button door lock assembly on the 68?

Fred

 

Fred,
I have a pair of 68 replacement door locks. But no keys for them. Let me know if you're intrested as I have replaced them in my car.

shmoky

 

I had the same problum with my 68 driver door lock. Last weekend I took it out and took it apart my self. Take the cylender out and remove the little cover that holds the springs and tumblers in place. Be carefull not to damage any thing and watch out that the springs dont go flying around the shop. Load it up with WD40 and working the key in and out see how it works. with a small screw driver or a awl work the tumblers up and down putting the key in and out.
I had one stuck that wouldnt allow the cyl to rotate, take your time and save $$$

 

thanks schmoky and ghunt

They did end up fixing the lock so my key works, charged me $20 which was not bad. Somehow, though, they rotated the keyhole slot so it is no longer straight up and down in neutral position, but angled about 20 degrees clockwise. Looks a little odd but functions well. I'm wondering whether
a) should I be **** enough to ask them to fix this and
b) if I am so ncrs ****, should i trust them to mess with it again

kudos to ghunt for fixing it himself. That's always a decision. Sometimes it works well for you, sometimes you end up with much bigger problems than had you paid someone with the skills. Of course, sometimes you pay and they screw it up...

 

Sorry Fred, We just deal with cylinders when it comes to vintage cars like yours. Reasons that could cause you’re lock cylinder to be 20 degrees off: If they just serviced your lock and didn't replace the housing, it should have gone back into the door the way it came out. It can’t be put together wrong. Notice the protruding guides on the housing. Some are larger than the others and they are offset on the shell. The door is prepped so the body of the cylinder can only go in one way. Being a fiber glass door, it is possible for the slots in the door to have become damaged and elongated. This will allow the cylinder to rotate in the door and throw off its positioning. Just a large clip holds it in place. You should have installed a black rubber gasket onto the cylinder before installing it. That will provide a tighter fit, keep water from entering the inner door shell and help prevent it from rotating. If they did replace the housing, there is one that looks almost the same but the protruding guides are positioned differently. The cylinder shouldn’t fit in the door but again, if there is damage to the slots in the door, the cylinder may go in and will be skewed. If it was my car, I would want it right.
Kudos to the gentleman who repaired his own door cylinder. I can always use a man with great mechanical ability and dexterity.

John

 

John, are you talking about the '68 lock assembly? It's a one year only item, I don't think the housing or the cylinder is available and the housing is bolted into the inside of the door,the escutcheon is the only part that is mounted from the outside.


The cylinder slides into the SS cap and can be twisted in any direction. The ss cap on the other hand only fits into the housing one way.


You'll notice the one on the right is angled a bit off center too, It may be locked, I'm really not sure ??.


These are all the parts minus the piece that is held onto the bottom of the cylinder with a small nut and operates the lock assembly rod inside the door.


If it ever warms up around here(snowed again today) I'll pop a door panel off and get a picture of one installed

 

Trust me.....$20 is nothing compared to trying to do it yourself! Look at this mess!

 

Here's a pic of the lock from the top view.


if you want/need more pics let me know as my panels are off the car right now and would be easy to take a pic.

shmoky

 

When I got my car the locks were a disaster. I got the correct spare tire lock and then went to the local locksmith who keyed the car like I wanted it - square key for ignition only, oval key for all the other locks which meant each door, storage tray behind the seats, and that spare tire lock. The bill was fairly reasonable. I think he used the oval key that came with the new spare lock and keyed the other locks to match. Ask your locksmith and he'll give you the good info.

 

Nice shot shmoky