Lock tumblers, Having lock tumbles made for all locks Options

[dryheat914]

Hi all,
I'm looking for someone who can take all the tumblers from my car ( none are the same ) and match them up with one new key. I am using two cars to make one and the P.O.'s of these car have have new ignitions etc. added. I would like one key to fit all my locks.
Thanks

[silver six]

Dryheat,

I don't think there is anything wrong with letting a locksmith do this work but it has been my experience, at least here in the Bay Area, that for whatever weird reason rekeying the locks with correct wafers (wafers are the little flat bits; American cars have pins, we have wafers) and a fresh key cut from the key number is either absurdly expensive or practically impossible. Apparently the wafers are no longer made. I mean no one can get them, not the VW or Porsche dealerships (I tried a few), not the locksmiths (I tried at least four), and not the parts suppliers (I tried a number of sources including Pelican).

I ended up rekeying most of the locks myself using scavenged wafers. If I were to do it over, this is what I would do:

1. Fresh Key: First get a fresh laser cut key from a key number. How do you figure out your key number? Take the ignition tumbers (the tumblers is the cylindrical unit in which the wafers and little springs reside) to a locksmith that has a laser key cutting machine. Ask your local Porsche dealership for a referral. If they do not have a laser key cutting machine go somewhere else! Tell the locksmith that you want (1) a key freshly cut on the laser corresponding to the ignition tumblers and (2) you want to know the key number (sometimes referred to as the "key code"). Now with this number you can forever cut fresh keys without any concern of copy degredation. Copy degredation occurs when you copy a new key from an old worn out key. The effect is like taking a photocopy of a photocopy. Each copy you make contains more and more errors and more and more junk.

2. Remove All Your Locks: Now with your fresh key in hand you can rekey the great majority of the rest of your locks. Pull out all the locks at once and do them all at the same time. You will need to do this in order to redistribute all the wafers located in your tumbers. Pull the following locks (1) trunk lock, (2) two door locks, (3) glove compartment lock, and (4) front trunk pull lock. Removing these various locks is tremendously easy. If you have any trouble just refer to the shop manual or ask me/us here on the BBS.

3. Remove the Tumblers From the Locks: Removing the tumbers from the locks is also very easy. Some of the tumbers are kept in place by philips screws holding the cams on. The front trunk release tumber is kept in place with a tiny flat head screw located on the side of the lock. The glovebock tumber is kept in place with a similar system except instead of a tiny flathead screw on the side, it has a tiny pin that has been jammed into place. You will have to carefully drill out that pin. You will know where to drill because there is a pretty obvious indent there.

4. Remove Wafers From Tumblers: Now carefully remove the little wafers from the tumblers. Leave the little springs in. You don't have to remove them. You will notice each wafer has a little rectangular hole in the middle. Some rectangular holes are cut a little higher in the wafer, some a little lower. There are four positions in which the rectangular hole might be cut. Some of the newer wafers even have little numbers corresponding to the position of the rectangular hole (1-4).

5. Rekey Your Wafers: The idea is to insert the right wafer in the correct slot in the tumber to correspond to your freshly cut key. You know you have the correct wafer when the wafer in the tumber, with the key in the tumber puts the wafer perfectly flush with the surface of the tumber. In other words the wafer should neither be too high nor too low. On both side of the tumber, the wafer should be flush. Through trial and error and your supply of wafers provided by all your various locks you should be able to rekey probably three or four of the five locks. Start with your door locks and trunk lock first as they are the most important.

6. Running Out of Wafers: Now you want to rekey your glove compartment lock and front hood lock but you're running out of wafers. Here are your options from best (most difficult) to worst (most lazy). (1) Go to the wrecking yard and get wafers out of the tumblers of 914s and VWs of the same era. (2) Use the wrong wafers from the ones you have left over and just grind them down with a Dremmel until they're flush with the tumbler surface. (3) Get as many wafers in the tumber right as you can and leave the rest of the slots blank. (4) Leave the entire tumbler blank and don't worry about it; after all, it is not that big of a deal is it that your glove compartment and front trunk don't lock.

7. Reinstall: Reinstallation is reverse of removal. By the way, take it easy on the torque. The door handle nuts really don't need much torque. Too much torque on those nuts will pull the stud out of the door handle's weak pot metal.

A note about lubricants: Use a verylight coat of lithium grease on the wafers when installing. Take it easy on the grease. Use no grease on the springs. Keep the springs clear of grease if possible. Keep graphite powder out of there.


Douglas