Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 10:28:14 -0700 (PDT)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Michael Perry <mperry@efn.org>
Subject: Re: VW 3 : Locksmith 1
In 1973, we had a similar "problem" w/ our 63 Split Window. Round 4:
Threw a softball sized rock thru passenger windshield; extracted keys. $12
for a replacement winshield at the wrecking yard.
On 16 Aug 1996, Jeff Carver wrote:
> A tale of the formidable opponent that the bus is against a well
> equipped lockmithing foe.
> A friend locked her keys inside her '78 VW Westi.
> I stayed around to watch the show.
>
> Round 1 -
> A locksmith came out and in the first round attempted
> to gain entrance through a wing window using a special tool that
> looked like an ice pick that had been run through blender. It had
> lots of bends and angles that allowed it to be fed between the glass
> and rubber to engage the catch on the wing handle and then rotate the
> handle to open the wing. Tool broke.
> Score after the first round. VW 1 : Locksmith 0
> Round 2 -
> Locksmith proceeded to try again with a another similar tool. See
> round one for the action.
> Score after the second round. VW 2 : Locksmith 0
> Round 3 -
> Locksmith proceeded to attempt to pick lock on driver's door. After
> about 15 minutes of valiant effort, the locksmith finally gave up and
> asked what window he could break.
> Score after the third round. VW 3 : Locksmith 0
> Round 4 -
> I told him that all of the locks on the bus have considerable
> resistance to turning, except the rear hatch. We went to the aft end
> and proceeded to attempt the entry. Considerably exhausted, or was
> that disgusted, he tried in vain to pick the lock. With assistance
> from the author (doing the rotate thing) while he did the raking
> thing we finally managed to unlock the hatch.
> Final score. VW 3: Locksmith 1
>
> Lessons learned:
> 1 - Keep a hide-a-key somewhere.
> 2 - If you MUST have locksmith pick their way into a bus, go
> straight to the end of the line, or aft of the bus anyway.
> - Jeff
> '80 Westi, '67 Sqbk, '64 Ford Crewcab, '87 Subaru 4WD
> Grass Valley, California
>
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