Re: [DML] DeLorean Keys II

["Walter" <Whalt@xxxx>]

I have the two key system on my car, and it is a Sept '81. Right now both
door locks are jammed up and will not take a key. I am waiting on PJ Grady
to send me a new set of door locks which will use the same blank as the
ignition switch, thus converting my car to the one key system. Rob said the
supply of OEM Volvo style door locks has run out. Supposedly someone in
Europe is making new ones to fill the demand. That is where mine are
coming from. Be glad you have the one key system.

At $195 for a new set of door locks, I considered making GM door locks to
work, but every lock I tried to fit in the door is smaller than the hole. I
spent hours in my spare time thinking about how to make something fit
without modifying the sheet metal of the door. I finally came up with an
idea of making 2 stainless steel washers. Both washers would have holes to
fit the GM door lock. One washer would be mounted outside the door and
would basically work as an eschution (sp?). The second washer would have an
outside shape to fit inside and level with the stainless door panel. It
would have ears bending off of it to stop it from falling out. Then the
standard spring steel clip would hold it all in place on the inside. The
cost would be minimal, but it would take a lot of hand filing to make it
work. But when I found out that replacement door locks could be purchased
that would key the same as the ignition switch, gas cap, and storage
compartment behind the driver's seat, I figured it would be better to spend
the bucks for the real thing and have only one key for the entire car.

For the rest of you with the two key system, be careful! I recommend being
sure the keyhole is perfectly vertical before removing the door key. If the
key comes out while the lock is turned, then good luck ever getting the key
back in there to straighten it out. It takes a special tool to remove the
lock from the door without damaging it. I hear that the DMC service
bulletins give instructions for breaking the original pieces apart with a
screwdriver to remove the old lock and then replacing it with the Volvo
style one-key system.

When I bought my car, the passenger door was jammed to the point where it
wouldn't take a key. I later oiled both door locks and got the passenger
door to start working again. Then the driver's door jammed up and wouldn't
take the key, so every time I locked/unlocked the car, I had to use the
passenger door lock. But it didn't take long for the passenger lock to jam
up again too! Luckily the locks jammed with the car unlocked rather than
locked. Rob Grady tells me that the door locks from the 2 key system are
junk and not worth trying to rebuild. He said something about a pin
breaking apart.

So now I have two OEM Delorean keys with lights in them that have no use
other than cool looking flashlights to do key bumps off of -- quite a
novelty at parties with the DMC logo & JZD's reputation. (Not that I would
do that.) I never liked carrying them anyway, because they take up too much
room in my pocket.

Walt