• Welcome to For E Bodies Only !

    We are a community of Plymouth Cuda and Dodge Challenger owners. Join now! Its Free!

How Hard is it to Set Locks?

DALTON

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2012
Messages
68
Reaction score
6
Location
Crystal Lake, IL
I have new door releases, trunk release, console lock and ignition lock. I want to just have 2 keys for the whole set up. How hard is it to set all the cylinders for the same key? Is this something I need to get a locksmith for?
 

Adam

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2012
Messages
1,642
Reaction score
697
Location
Washington
No, it is easy. The hardest is probably the glove box because it is hard to disassemble without breaking it.

On a clean, well lit surface, take one of your door locks apart. You should see a little stainless cover that snaps into place, gently pry up one side and slowly remove the cover. Hold the lock upright from this point on. There are holes that have tiny springs in them; using tweezers remove all the springs, they are all the same. Use your thumb to cover all the holes except one and then you can turn the lock over to dump the pins out of one of the holes. Notice the pins are two piece.... set them aside in the same orientation as they came out (bottom pin on the bottom, top pin on the top). Repeat until all the pins are out and set aside. Unlike the springs the pins are all different (longer/ shorter) keep the same two pieces together. I can’t remember if the upper pins are all the same or not, so for now I will assume they are different.

I believe you can remove the cylinder from the lock body at this point.

Now you can insert the key that you want to use into the lock cylinder and put one of the the bottom pins into a hole; the pin must sit flush with the top of the cylinder, if not try another pin. Repeat until you have all flush pins in the cylinder with the key in. Then reassemble the cylinder into the lock body, replace the upper pins, springs, and cover. Test for function.

Usually there are only two problems that happen.
1: You mix up the top and bottom pins. You can avoid this by coloring the pins with different color sharpies as they come out of the lock. If you have mixed up the pins you just have to play mix & match.

2: You don’t have all the right pins for the key you want to use. You can disassemble an old lock or get a cheap replacement lock from an auto parts store to cannibalize the pins. Or use a dremel tool to cut down a pin that is too tall. Also, if you only use four pins in the console / glove box lock it will be ok.
 
Last edited:

rbbruno3

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2011
Messages
1,679
Reaction score
381
Location
upstate , NY
Can I send mine to you Adam? LOL Sounds easier than it is. I had to buy 2 for just my glovebox. The one thing it says is DO NOT pull the key out until its installed. Stupid me started to pull it out to make sure I had it right Side up. Oops
 
Back
Top