Date:         Thu, 2 Jun 94 9:22:20 GMT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         William Warburton <william@festival.ed.ac.uk>
Subject:      Re: Ignition switch barrel and tumbler replacement?

 Hi,

> Has anyone out there replaced the barrel and tumblers on their
> ignition switch?  I need to do this for Georg, my 1973 campmobile

 A '73 has pretty simple locks. I rekeyed all my door locks (on my '71) to
suit the ignition because it was new and I didn't want to take it to bits.
It isn't difficult to reset the door locks- if you can find a few hours to
fiddle with them then you might even enjoy it- it's a little like doing a
puzzle :-).
 I wrote some stuff on how I did it, which might be useful. Here it comes:

Cheers,
        W.
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 Rekeying VW door locks. (Breadloaf/Baywindow vans)

 Each lock has a cylinder with eight sprung brass inserts. If the correct key
is inserted they are moved into the cylinder so that the edges are flush and
the cylinder can then be rotated, unlocking the door. To set up the lock you
will need a collection of these inserts so that you can match them up against
the key you want to use. Get a few locks from a scrapyard by removing the
whole handle/catch & take them apart at home to get the inserts and to get
a handle  (hah!) on how they come to bits.

 The front door handles can be removed by undoing a pair of allen bolts which
are accessible after removing the interior door trim. The lock cylinder has
a tab at the end which performs the locking and can be removed by undoing a
philips screw. To remove the cylinder undo the very small grub screw (which
protrudes (inside) into a track in the cylinder, limiting the movement of the
cylinder).  this screw is at the inboard end of the cylinder (and may have
fallen out!). When you put the tab back on the cylinder remember which way
round it goes (mine point forward).

 The back hatch catch is held by a single phillips screw at the bottom (again,
under the trim). It has a similar grub screw to locate the lock cylinder.

 The sliding door mechanism varies with year, on mine ('71) the lock cylinder
is in the handle and the whole thing comes apart be removing the philips screw
in the middle of the inside handle (with grub screw retaining the cylinder)
later models have a seperate lock below the handle which works in the same
manner as the other locks. I can't remember how you get it out but I think it
is quite clear once the trim is off.

 Once you have dismantled a lock & have the cylinder in front of you you can
slide a key in & see the way that the brass inserts move (four from each side).
To match a key you find an insert which has the slot in the correct place for
the key you want to use and place it in the appropriate slot. If it is too
deep (or shallow) then compare it to your spare inserts until you find one that
looks right & try it instead. If you are short a couple of pieces then you can
miss out an insert (which means that the location is wildcarded, any key will
fit it so it is less secure). In the extreme you could have a cylinder with
no inserts & open it with a coin. You may need to replace some of the springs
(or stretch them slightly) to get the inserts to move properly.

 The cylinders are *NOT* all the same! If you need to replace any of the
cylinders you'll need to be a bit picky about where the replacement comes from
(ie you can't replace a door lock cylinder with a tailgate cylinder).


 I didn't touch my ignition lock, I used it as the master & matched all the
other locks to it. If you have an odd ignition key but everything else matches,
what a Bummer! I don't know anything about changing the ignition switch :-(