Well, I broke my glovebox latch last week, so I ordered a used latch to replace it. The used latch came with a lock cylinder in it, so I decided to take it apart to see if I could rework it to fit my valet key, since I don't have a master key.
As others know, the valet key is too thick for the glovebox/trunk lock cylinder. Or something like that. Figuring that the die-cast zinc lock cylinder would be softer than my key, I removed the tumblers and just gently hammered my key into the lock until it fit, using some chapstick to lubricate it. Once I had got the key to be able to slide freely in the lock, I used an old tumbler to clean up each of the slots for the tumblers, since they had burrs in them from the aforementioned expert machining procedure.
The glove box lock had 8 (or 9) tumblers, compared to the 11 found in the door lock, so, knowing the key code for my door lock from a previous repair, I placed tumblers into the slots starting at the far end of the key and moving toward the key head.
Now it's in my glovebox and it works. My only question now is, why would I ever use it? I really have no idea, but I imagine this procedure applies to the trunk lock as well, which I'll attempt when I can find a spare lock for that.
All in all, cool story bro.
As others know, the valet key is too thick for the glovebox/trunk lock cylinder. Or something like that. Figuring that the die-cast zinc lock cylinder would be softer than my key, I removed the tumblers and just gently hammered my key into the lock until it fit, using some chapstick to lubricate it. Once I had got the key to be able to slide freely in the lock, I used an old tumbler to clean up each of the slots for the tumblers, since they had burrs in them from the aforementioned expert machining procedure.
The glove box lock had 8 (or 9) tumblers, compared to the 11 found in the door lock, so, knowing the key code for my door lock from a previous repair, I placed tumblers into the slots starting at the far end of the key and moving toward the key head.
Now it's in my glovebox and it works. My only question now is, why would I ever use it? I really have no idea, but I imagine this procedure applies to the trunk lock as well, which I'll attempt when I can find a spare lock for that.
All in all, cool story bro.
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