Help please - lost keys

Hi,

Well, we seem to have managed to loose the keys to the Dino. Apparantly, leaving the keys with the wife is not a good idea. The spare key (and the copies made from this) does for some reason not fit, so I'm stuck with a rather stationary Dino in fantastic summer weather. The spare key for the doors work, so while we continue to search for the keys I thought I'd ask for some advice. My guess is that we will need to change the ingition key cylinder, but where can I find this? I've checked dinoparts etc, but without luck. Also, is changing the cylinder a difficult job?

Any other brilliant ideas are happily received.

 

Was the spare ignition key cut from worn original?
You could try and get the key coded and a new key made from that. I use keys4classics.com in Australia who will even reverse engineer the code from a picture of a worn key emailed to them (or in your case badly cut).

 

Yes, it is a very good idea to take photos of your original keys (front and back) to have on hand in case you need to get one remade. Like Andrew I ordered replacement keys from keys4classics.com earlier this year so I wouldn't lose one of my original Neiman keys.

 

The spare keys came with the car, and I (stupidly enough) have never tried them before. Never thought about taking pictures of them, so am sort of stuck... My guess is that the spare key is not correct at all, and coding it will not help. Starting to think that I have to change the whole cylinder.

 

Any locksmith worth his salt can make a key just by putting a suitable blank in the cylinder and judiciously tapping with a teeny tool and can transfer the plunger marks onto the blank.
Then, with a file he does just that, file.
I have a guy here that can make any key, too bad so far away.

Certainly would not disassemble the cylinder, there are tips about not proceeding down this road from the 'Canadian Boys'. Read it up.

Regards, Alberto

 

Well yes and no....it can be done.

I have faced this and sadly most of the ignition cylinder/lock rod ASSEMBLIES are gone, as a new part.

BUT all is not lost!

Someone can carefully remove this assembly, and by pulling the inner pin holder from the lock, get you sorted with a new key.

I will caution that I WAS successful with the marking/rocking of a key blank on the original springs/pins, but, it all ended in tears when a Body Shop snapped that key off flush when it went out of tolerance, to actually work the lock.

A locksmith who finally sorted it on the bench opined that the rocking back on forth motion required to "mark" a blank key enlarged the vertical bores they rode in, and my pins were reset deeper in the bore, to overcome this damage..

"This must have come out of one of those '60s 'Furrin' Cars!"

"Yes sir, it did!"

But don't beat the wife, laugh it off and call your closest EXPERT shop. If they break that lock rod expect to spend $2000USD to $3000USD

 

Once the cylinder is out, it's no big deal to make the Code anything you want, or as my story shows, they will "work it out" to try and save your original part.

 

Thanks for great tips, guys. Will do one last search throughout the house (I know it's there somewhere), and call a locksmith to see what we can do.

 

What about hot wiring it?

 

...thought about that as a first and dirty workaround too. I drove like that for a few weeks when my ignition was defect last year.

Unfortunately it is very easy to hot-wiring our cars ;o)

But in his case, he has to pick the steering lock, so maybe this is not a good idea!?

 

+1 , cost me about $200.00 for this exact process after Alaska Airlines lost my luggage with Dino keys. We then resolved the key cutting code and I keep that in a file with the key blank number so I can reproduce the key should I need to. Then I looked on the original delivery sheet and there was the code all along. Check that or perhaps the owner's manual for any handwritten key codes that you might have.

 

Thanks for the tip! I saw this and decided to take a couple photos of my 308 GT4 keys to save in my photo archives.

I think I will start a thread in the 308 section as well to remind them to do the same.
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It is a good idea to take a photo copy. You will get good contrast and a one to one of your key. A experienced key cutter could use it to cut new keys.

Just a thought.

Dario

 

Hey, the Cromodora Dino key is pretty nifty! Were these just for the 308 GT4 or did the 1974 Dino 246 also receive these?

 

+1

BTW, the local record in a 2010 champion ship was 57 seconds for a commercal door lock, just as a reference if your locksmith wants to bill you an hour or two ;-)
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj9KEmLWRek]Jos Weyers final round 2010 SSDev impression championships - YouTube[/ame]

 

Only 308

 

That 308 key is really Cool....

and,

If I see this guy anywhere around my Dino Im going to $h*t. Holly Smokes. Less than 60 seconds and he's in..... Well that is unless I have called him because Alaska Airlines has lost my bag with my keys in them Then It would be thank god I will have keys for my car again.

Very impressive and scary.

D-

BTW: Speaking of keys did any Dino GT have keyed lockable glove boxes mine does not.

 

After much good advice, I have located a skilled locksmith that can help me. He insists that I remove the lock cylinder from the car and bring it to him - I haven't a clue as to how to do this. Anyone have some useful tips?

BTW, this forum is great.

 

No.

The GTS has a keyed lock for the glove box. The key is also the same key to lock the locking bar that secures the three lever releases on the rear firewall.

 

If he is good, he ought to make house calls, possibly charge more,
but I would not remove it and trust a stranger (I assume he is not a relative) with
a fairly difficult item to replace in case disaster happens.

Regards, Alberto

 

The locksmith is more than happy to do house calls; the problem is (he says) that old italian cars use very soft metal in these parts, and he will not risk trying to tap a new key into the cylinder in risk of damaging it. If we take out the cylinder he says it's no problem at all to make a new key. BTW, I have no problem trusting the locksmith. In any case, a junkie with a screwdriver could manage to steal a Dino

As such I need to remove the ignition cylinder. To me it seems like I need to remove the steering wheel, the column stalks etc in order to do this, but I would really appreciate some advice on the easiest way forward. I am fairly handy, but a step-by-step-for-dummies description would be fantastic.

Please, FChat, you're my only hope

 

Frank,

Since you made copies from the original key, have you thought about taking one of the keys and just methodically cleaning/filing the burrs off of it? It might just be snagging on one or a couple of areas of the key. I would at least try this before doing a major disassembly to your steering column. You might just get lucky ;-)

Freeman

 

See? He is correct IMO, the "cutting a blank from the pins" is a bad idea..

You have to stand on your head but IIRC the cylinder/lock comes out with out pulling the column, on my 308.

The steering lock rod is round on the end..

Somebody put up a Dino parts diagram and let's talk him thru it!

 

Below is the schematic of the steering column assembly. The lower part of the dashboard covers the ignition cylinder both from the front and the bottom, and I can't remove it without removing the steering wheel and the column (part 46). The dashboard trim surrounds the column, and as the column tapers it will have to be removed before I can remove the trim. Probably lousy explanation, but hope you know what I mean.

Anyone?
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Please, can anyone give me a quick rundown of the process to remove the cylinder? Haven't found anyone who can help me yet.