I have tried to get into my 73' for the last 1 - 2 weeks now. I was wondering if it would be worth my while to break the small side window to get in. I have the locks pushed in on the doors, and have pulled on the handle with no luck. The windows are not down far enough to get access to anything on the targa. The locksmith quoted me 65 just to show up, and then another 1 dollar a minute after word. I really think there is something jacked on the locks. Can anyone help.

I've got two broken door handles on mine. F**king a**holes trying to break into it. I found you have to turn the key several times while holding the door handle in place to get it to unlock. Then you have to hold the handle in place and pull the flapper several times while someone else uses something to gently pry the door open when it does unlatch. Or, find someone with a AAA card, they'll come out and open it in 15 seconds for free.

like i told you before, call AAA ... they'll have it open in about 15 seconds ...

Andy

thanks, i'll keep ya posted

I had no choice but to break a window a couple of years ago (had to sign a lease in 15 minutes across town), so I called EASY and Jim told me, unequivocally, to break the driver's side "vent" window (the small one).

Replacements are plentiful, and I stopped by on my way to the office and we had a new/used one in with NO problems after just 10-15 minutes of effort.

The only downer was glass shards all over the interior -- and I am still occasionally finding them years later.

pete

You guys are BREAKING WINDOWS to get into your cars???



I got locked out of mine once (with it running, that was fun) and AAA had it open in about 10 minutes.

AAA would be nice if I had it. I'm kinda stuck with paying the locksmith or breaking a window, just wanna go the cheaper route. The car has been sitting, so it won't be on the road until August or September (I hope)

Where could I find the small driver's side window if I chose to break it, and how much would it be?

If you do decide to break that little window, God forbid. Put a layer of duct tape over it and rub it down good. Save you a lot of clean up.

Jeff, do you know someone that has AAA? They just need a card carrying member to be present, right? So 'borrow' a AAA member.

Jen

What a fine, helpful, and friendly lot we are tonight. This 914clubber is obviously not calling AAA and I am just passing along my experience, good and bad.

In this thread and the other, NO ONE is giving him any advice other than "call AAA."

I didn't say I liked doing breaking a window -- or that it's a preferred choice -- and I didn't say it had a perfect outcome in my case. I was in a real bind. In hindsight, I don't regret my decision -- and I don't really care if you or others think it was the wrong one.

I have waited for AAA and other roadside assistance for 30-120 minutes in the past -- in the HEART of downtown SF. Like AAA, tools and/or duct tape weren't handy...

NOW, if the car were locked up in my garage and I wasn't in a hurry, AAA or a locksmith would be the first call I'd make.

The glass shards were a bummer, so I second bob's duct tape recommendation.

For me, replacement was a simple stop on the way to the office, but you're in WA and I don't know the salvage shops up there. I suspect that piece of glass can be had for $5-30. Any Porsche salvage yard should have one, but I'd call around BEFORE you break anything.

Just my personal view....feel free to disagree...

pete

IIRC, the little vent window pops right out with a little coaxing. It is just held into the seal, the seal is bolted in side the door, not the window.

You can get one from one of the members here with a parts hoard, from Easy, from HPH probably. I would bet they are not expensive at all.

buy or borrow a slim jim, any lock shop has them, or get a tow truck driver, never seen one yet without one give him 20.00 and viola!

Most expensive window to break:

A dickhead in Dallas decided he needed my stereo more than I did. So, he tried to PRY the "vent window" open. He shattered it. Bent the trim. Glass pieces flew scratched the door. Then he mangled the dash trying to get the 99 dollar CD player out of the dash.

What a <serious expletive deleted>! The freaking passenger door was unlocked!!

Moral of the story: If you have to break a window, mask off everywhere that you could scratch paint on the exterior. Use a gentle masking tape or scotch tape and some sheet plastic so you reduce risk of paint damage.

-Rusty

Slamming the door really hard will break it too... but you kinda need the door open to do that..

The Window rusty explained is the cheapest to replace.

Andrew

PS.. Rusty, most of those vent windows actually work, but im sure you know that..

There is no hinge or handle on a 914-6 vent window. It's fixed.

I say go for the locksmith. The window is cheap, but the cleanup and reinstallation of the broken window makes it the less appealing option in my mind.

Pete, you made the right choice. AAA can open it in 10 minutes, but you have to wait forever for them to get there.

I've popped the lock on a few cars with a coat hanger. Open it up and make a small hook on one end. Fish it down through the window seal between the top of the door and bottom of the glass. Try and hook the metal rod, which runs from the inside handle to the outside handle. When you find it, give it a hard yank.

Good luck with it.

If you're really forced to break something to get in, forcefully lift the rear corner of the targa and the two threaded inserts will pop out of the fiberglass. Once they pop, you can get your arm in and lower the window enough to reach the handle and open the door. The threaded inserts can easily be epoxied back in. Lots cheaper and easier than replacing a window, but still more trouble than called AAA.

Oh yeah, don't ask me how I know about this method!

Why don't you just join the AAA ? cheaper than the glass and mess you will make breaking into your own car.

i have a vent window if you should opt for the shatter route jeff. i know dino has 3 of each side also.

k

Did you lock the keys in the car? In the ignition?

S.O. locked the car w/ keys in ignition. I pried the pass window away from the targa and stuck a wood wedge in to keep the gap open. Then took a long stiff wire (two coat hangers twisted together to make a LONG one), bent a "u" in one end....pushed it thru the gap, hooked the keys and pulled them out.

You could try hooking the lock handle in the same manner....just takes patience.

Coat hangers are great tools. Too bad the women in my life are trying to replace every single metal one in the house with plastic ones. They say that clothes hang better on plastic. God help me.

Dave

If the lockset can be removed from the door handle, the door handle interior bits can be manipulated to un-lock a door lock.

If one bends the last 1\4" of the tip of a flat-bladed screwdriver and places it in the orfice left from the lock having been removed, one will encounter a round hole.

If one pushes up with slight force just behind said hole, using the angled screwdriver tip, at the top, it will unlock the door.

I've done it, not a mark!

The first and only time, in a parking lot at a motel in Grants, New Mexico. It took ninety minutes and many cuss words, I could do it again in two minutes.

I did have the advantage of the lockset being free to remove easily.


John

P.S. My car had new seals everywhere, no whistles even at speed, I was NOT gonna slim-jim it!

Good Luck!

Coat hanger, reach in and unlock it via the inner door handle...
I have done both the same side, and the other side...use a really long one, and reach across the car...just takes a few minutes of patience....

Dont break anything...
If you cant get the door handle....roll down the window...a coat hanger works for that also...

Rich

One alternative can be the rear window, it kind of depends on how good the seal is. Quite often the rear window is loose enough to push in. With a suction cup you would not have to let it drop even.

the only seal that could be damaged with a slimjim is a door to window squeegee. i doubt it would be damaged, and if it were, new ones are under $10. i have 2 new wtd pass side seals (still have the stickers) that came with the "3fer" deal. jim that side. quite the conundrum... break a window, spring for a locksmith, or ?. your call.

k

Wood from Ikea is even better! I am hiding all the lil gems down in the cave...

And yes I have a few vents, with doors still attatched! I should have a door to door sale!

Driving an 35 year old sportscar now that I am old, 90 bux a year for AAA is dirt cheep and I never have to worry about how acurate my gas gauge is either!

I just had the same thing happen to me at work. Locked the keys in the car, windows up.

I found that with a screwdriver, I could pull the driver window out far enough to get a piece of sheet metal into the opening between the window and top and used it to nudge the window handle on the inside. After nudging the handle for a bit, I got the window down about 4 inches, enough to reach in and unlock the door.

The sheet metal measured 8in x 30in and I had just picked it up for some bodywork. The trunk was not locked.

Good luck. Don't break a window.

Spoke

Passenger windows have enough flex in them to slide a coat hanger wire through and then you just fish for the door handle and pull. Done it a couple times over 20 years of 914 ownership

Don't break the small vent window glass, especially if it's tinted. Find another way to get into the car. Vent windows have a slight radius and tinted ones are difficult to find. When I needed one I found (15) no-tint to (1) tinted. For that matter all tinted door & windshield glass is hard to find in good condition.

Tom

The coat hanger idea is a good one, Butt instead of trying to pull the handle. Use the hanger to roll down the window. Takes 5 minutes. Course I have done it a few times. Might take 20 total with bending the hanger. A hint is to use the curved part to get at the window crank.
Good luck. I usually go in from the top of the window towards the rear. That is where you will have the most play in the window.

Rich is right on the money here.

If the window is down enough get a long stick/pipe/whatever you can and tape the hook part of a hanger to the end & go for the lock on the opposite side you’re working from.

If the window is rolled up tight, use a opened hanger from the top corner by the sail panel and go for the window handle (on the same side) till you have enough room to work.

Just think about what you are trying to get to and bend the hanger accordingly.

I’ve done it plenty of times, it will work.

It's a convertible! just cut the top!

Jes' kidding

Break out a beer or 2 and keep trying the coat hanger thingy. Look at it as a challenge.

Once on Kauai we were at a beach, locked the keys in the trunk Found a rental car with a radio antenna that unscrewed so... bent the tip (after un-screwing) and opened the car then re-installed antenna (with partially straightened tip)! The beach is now refered to by the girls as KLIT beach (Keys Locked In Trunk)

.......b

Notice how many club members are skilled at auto theft???

I for one have never stolen a car or even car stereos. That being said, in the day there wasn't a pre early 80's car I couldn't get in quickly (Emilio Estevez had nothing on me )

i'm tellin ya man.

10 minutes, make a hanger straight, insert in door between door metal and window, find a ledge or flat piece and push.

POP

and your in.

and if you wanna get it started,

b

Thanks for all the help guys. Got the car unlocked by using a hangar on the window crank. (6 beers later) Gotta love my first experience with a 914. Now time to get it running. I'll have more questions. Trust me.

You could have also cut the top... everyone has 4 of those...

Glad you got in without damage!!

The one time I got locked out of my car I was able to unlatch the targa top with a coat hanger. Did the rear latches first and then the front. I couldn't reach the door latch with the coat hanger. (I'll try rolling down the window next time.)

SEE!!! I tol'ya da beers'id do it

Good Job

.....b

I'd go with the window breaking alternative. I'm not proud of it but I've done it on several occasions. Plus I am a young destructive adult who probably needs years of therapy.

Another alternative is to make a slim jim. It'l take a little more time than breaking a window and you don't suffer from broken glass in yourself.

P.S. Screw AAA, they take waaayy to long. I had an engine blow in Blithe once... man, I could've been a rotisserie food sample