How does the plate to which the rods are connected come off the lock
cylinder on a 1975 SII?
Busy getting locks and central locking fixed, seems to have been put in
backwards by a DPO, rods missing, cylinders turn in the doors, you name it,
it needs to be fixed. Am I having fun? No, not at all…
In reply to a message from The Wirewheel Shop sent Mon 2 May 2005:
Jack
The big plated domed rivet like item is held in place by a small
pin which goes through the tumbler assembly. If you prize the
spring clip off you can see this pin and (if it hasn’t corroded too
badly) pull it out with a pair of needle nose pliers. The rivet
comes out and then the tumbler assembly can be replaced.
I’ll put a picture up once it’s approved, in the meantime the
diagram in the parts manual on page 2I 03 is pretty accurate, let
me know if you don’t have access?–
The original message included these comments:
How does the plate to which the rods are connected come off the lock
cylinder on a 1975 SII?
I know this is an ancient thread but I have searched the archives and, of several found, this seems the best to revive. Al did post the picture he mentions above here:
(Sorry for long link but I couldn’t find an easier way to link to the old snaps site.)
I need to remove the right side door lock barrel/cylinder as it just rotates freely. I have read that I can remove it either by prising off the U shaped spring clip holding it inside the door or pinching in the sides of the clip. I envisage that either method leaves the lock barrel hanging outside the door but stil attached to the cradle/connector rods… How do you get at the second springed clip that holds in the pin that holds the lock barrel to the cradle and rods that actuate the lock? Does that have to be removed from inside the door???
I spent ages today looking at the in situ lock and pictures of the parts on the web. I think I get it now: you have to disconnect the actuating rods from the bracket on the back of the lock while it is installed in the door then the whole lock including the attached bracket can be manoeuvred out through the lock mounting holes in the door. Right?
I doubt you can pull the lock cylinder while connected to the rod: in all cars I’ve seen so far the lock cylinder was pushed in from outside and then held in place from inside by some sort of u-shaped metal spring.
The SII lock cylinder carries its own spring mechanism. On my driver’s door this spring has sagged somewhat giving the lock cylinder some play in the door skin. At any rate you might have to undo the rod from inside first to pull out the lock cylinder from outside next.
Thank you, Jochen. You’re quite right. I got the lock barrel out of the door easily today by disconnecting the rods first, then prising off the spring inside that holds the lock barrel in the door. Then the lock barrel and all its attached parts came out through the opening .
Now it’s out, I can see the mechanism is worn out and so sloppy that the key rotates completely without engaging the actuating bracket that the rods are connected to. It’s not repairable so I will order a new one. I’ll get one for both doors so they have the same key.
no sweat … before binning the old barrel you might have a closer look at the causes of the malfunction: On normal locks there is an inner cylinder rotating against the outer cylinder that is fixed in the door skin, while the inner cylinder carries the actuating lever.
Under normal conditions the inner cylinder is blocked against rotation by typically four or five u-shaped pins that are pressed out of the inner cylinder by tiny springs. The legs of the "u"s are of different length. When the key is engaged in the inner cylinder its profile pulls the pins back against the spring force thus allowing the inner cylinder to rotate. Lock cylinders tend to become dirty, sticky or gummed up. Thorough cleaning and reassembly with some light oil often does wonders and brings back that new car feeling - well, new when car doors were operated with keys … Take care though to note which pin is in which place and those springs are really tiny! Application of undue force makes the pins break.
I don’t know whether I understand you correctly: it seems that the key makes the inner cylinder rotate, but the lever doesn’t operate at the rear side. If this is true the entire lock cylinder may be perfectly in order and it would be a waste to throw it away, given you have all identical locks and keys. Chances are the fault is only in the transmission of the inner cylinder movement to the lever actuation (I once had another old car where the entire force of the turning operation was transferred to the lever by a cast metal part with two tiny tabs engaging into the lock cylinder, that inevitably broke after relatively short periods of use). If your car has the lock cylinders described in the Parts Catalogue 2I 03L, you might only need the hook shaped lever with the square opening. Maybe you check whether the square peg at the back side of the inner cylinder has rounded off or the square counter opening in the lever is worn to find out whether you only need a spare lock to provide for better mechanical parts. If you find one you can take the “new” inner cylinder and install the pins in the same order as in your current lock to make the original key operate the new lock. If it’s just the lever, you don’t even have to take the cylinder apart. But, since it is out anyhow, just take it apart - it’s incredibly rewarding!
Thank you for the helpful posting, Jochen. You do understand me correctly. The inner cylinder where the key goes was rotating freely but the motion was not being passed on to the lever attached to the back of the lock cylinder. I dismantled it today to work out why.
The fit of the lever to the lock cylinder was sloppy and this seems to be due to the pin that passes through the lever and is then held in place in the rear of the lock cylinder being slightly bent. That has allowed the lever to move back and forth along the axis of that pin. Thus the squared corners of the pin that should be held tightly in the square hole on the lever have had enough freedom of movement to get out of the square hole. Now the squared part of the pin has burred corners and there’s some burring on the lever too where the pin is rotating. If you look carefully you can see the burring in these photos.
I think, as you suggest, the lock cylinder itself is serviceable. So I will probably use it in the replacement lock that is coming so I can use one key for both doors.
while the parts certainly don’t look brilliant, I’d still be confident that any fine file would straighten the flats of the corresponding squares sufficiently to make enough contact for transfer of power.
The thing that would disturb me more is the fact that the square portion of the peg is so low and the hole where the pin goes through sits much higher.
As you describe it the square hole of the lever will simply move downward on the peg and leave the square portion of the peg. A fix might be to kind of lock down the lever to the end of the cylinder, maybe by inserting metal rings under the pin going through the hole or, if you remove the rust, some kind of glue might help.
OTOH, if you have a good spare part coming it’s no deal just to replace these two parts, overhaul the lock cylinder and have a perfectly restored lock operated by the original key in less than a Saturday afternoon.
