Keeping your Beta on the road > Owners Useful Tips

Rekeying door, boot and fuel flap locks

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peteracs:
Hi All

Following on from a recent thread re locks and rekeying, I thought I would strip one down and see how easy it is to rekey the lock. I have a reason as do many I suspect as my car has the two door locks the same key, but different for the fuel flap and a third for the boot. I also ha e only one set of keys, so all in all very unsatisfactory and I really did not want 4 keys on the key ring just for this one car, two is plenty.

So I grabbed one of the spare door locks I had from a scrapped car and set to taking it apart. I assume that the fuel flap and the boot locks are similar if not exactly the same as far as fittings go, but the basic key/lock operation will be the same.

The first job on the door handle mechanism is to remove the end ciclip which is very small and not so easy to remove, you need either a small set of circlip pliers or patience with screwdrivers etc. After this is removed, you can take the main part of the lock from the door mechanism. This reveals the pin which sits through the barrel, this just slides out, then remove the round washer which has a tab pushed between the tails of the spring. Remove the larger ciclip, this one is easy with a small screwdriver and remove the washer and spring.

The first photo is a parts explosion excluding any pins of the door lock.

The lock now just comprises of the inner barrel and outer casing which at this point can not be separated due to the internal pins. Removing these is a fairly simple matter. On the outer casing are two protrusions with a slot in each. The slot has a cover plate which needs to be gently tapped out with a small screwdriver towards the key insertion end. The next photo below shows the plate half way out. Once started it can be removed with a set of pliers, but be gentle with it as it needs to be reused....! As you are removing the plate ensure you do not lose any of the springs which will emerge from the holes drilled in the inner barrel. Once the plate is taken off empty out the springs, below the springs are some small buckets and below them are the pins used to form the key ‘combination’. Next two photos are of the springs, buckets and pins. Once you have removed all you can from one side, repeat the procedure on the opposite side. You should have 10 springs, buckets and pins.

peteracs:
Now the lock is apart, understanding how it works is the next part before you can progress.

If you look at any key you will see either cutouts or round holes, see photo. I assume cutouts are factory and the round holes are aftermarket key cutters given my keys with serial nos have cutouts and the non serial key has holes. Either is good enough from what I can tell. If you look closely there are three possible conditions, either no hole, a shallow hole or deeper hole. Each key has 10 positions for holes. The holes are mirrored on each side of the key allowing insertion either way round. The corresponding holes in the inner barrel are offset from the centre line so that one set of 5 pins line up with one side of the key and the other 5 line up with the other side of the key.

The cutouts decide how far in any of the pins will go into the inner barrel, as such there are 3 different pin lengths. Each pin has a narrow portion which is the part in contact with the key and a broader part which stops the pin going too far. It is this broader section which varies in size. So in order to match the lock to a key, you have to match pin lengths to cutouts in the key, such that when the key is in the inner barrel, all the pins sit flush with the surface of the inner barrel. When this is completed, the inner barrel can be reinserted into the outer casing and then the buckets with springs inserted into them can be inserted into the 10 holes. The cover plate can then be replaced, pressure will be required to press down on the springs to allow the plate to slide in.

Then check the lock is functioning ok before assembling the rest of the circlips, spring and washers.

Hopefully it should now all work.

The only issue with the above is the number of the different size pins you start with and need to complete. The lock I took apart had 3 long, 4 medium, 3 small pins (see photo above) and I needed 4 long, 3 medium, 3 small. In this instance I was lucky enough to have spare locks to cannibalise. If you have too many long pins, you could file down the pin to match the one you need.

An alternative is that anyone who has spare locks being happy to provide an exchange service. I for one would be happy to do this, so anyone looking for pins could contact me.

I hope this helps someone, and hope I made the process clear!

Peter

WestonE:
Hi Peter

Nice work and correct. BTW The keys with cross cuts are less aggressive on the lock so this is the kind you want cut if you can get them. Most people have spare locks to take the bits from. You can do this job without taking the full lock apart by removing the paul side plates but it is hard to get the pauls the right length.

Eric

HFStuart:
Model post I'd say - great stuff.

MattNoVAT:
Excellent post Peter, this will help numerous folk out there.

I'm now wondering if anyone has made their own "spare key" as I've seen blank door keys on Fleabay before, so providing you have your original how hard can it be to drill holes?  (I'm guessing the depths of the holes as well as their location needs to be exact)

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