Technical How does this come apart ?

I want to remove this Corvair ignition switch to reuse in another vehicle. I vaguely remember reading somewhere you need a key, which I do not have.
I stuck a paperclip in the little hole, pushed in the release and got the besil to unscrew but it only goes so far before making contact with the part where the key goes. How the heck does this thing come apart ???

 

You need the key. Then you turn the switch to state or run or accessory, (I can't remember) then the cylinder comes out and then the bezel screws off and the switch comes off the panel.

 

These old GM locks are crude and usually worn...if you gather a few random GM keys and jiggle a bit you can probably get the thing unlocked. You just plain don't need much of a fit to work these.

 

Sometimes you can turn those with a feeler gauge. Gary

 

or a nail file! Anything that will go in and jiggle the worn-out pins.

 

Corvair ignition locks usually are in good condition, they don't get many miles on them before something else on the car broke. So the usual picking methods might need some refinement.

If you get desperate, you can drill out the lock, and buy a new cylinder and key....since you will need a new key anyways...

 

Well, it IS odd that the owner didn't just leave the key in it...

 

I've been trying to pick it for the last couple hrs, it's defeated every spare key, 2 Swiss Army knifes, nail files, kids scissors, tiny screw drivers, paper clip with awl, acid, dynamite. ......
I just didn't want to buy an over seas ignition switch for the truck. I guess I'll start looking up switches to try and find a good one.

 

Just take the entire panel to a locksmith; why risk messing the switch up if you don't have to? What's going to cost more, a locksmith, who can also make you a key, or replacing a CORVAIR ignition switch? JMO.
I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Oh, I hear ya, I have no clue what the lock smith would charge. I originally got this panel because I thought the chrome besil would look good flipped upside down in my t-bucket's dash with aftermarket gauges. It's about ready to hit the scrap heap...lol

 

Hmmm...That would look good with some triangular gauges on the ends...

Serious note:
Did the G.M.s somehow circumvent the 'key code'?

 

When I have problem needing keys or getting something re keyed.I take it to the locksmith in Pigeon Forge here in east T.N. Real fair on there price too .They been helping me for over the last 10 years with my cars. In fact I am going to have to pull one of the door locks out to I can get a key made so I can lock the wagon up and lower the rear window from out side. There is another guy and town but hes a real ass hole and wont even talk to you about car keys,And he calls himself a lock smith.!!!!Bruce.

 

I have ask how are you going to use it if you don't have a key?

 

I didnt have any keys for my chevy II, I had to mangle it to get it apart so I could replace it with the new one that had a key. Someone will probably post some magic method, then I will feel like a dumbass...

 

I know what you mean about the overseas crappy switches. I bought a hi-dollar Ign Sw from SoCal and it felt mighty shaky, kept expecting it to fail, It sure looked and felt like a fine Chinese product. I have gotten some good ones from Marine Supply stores.
The new tumbler with keys is about $24 from Clark's Corvairs so if a locksmith will do it for around that price it would seem fair but you're gonna start to have a lot into that Ign switch. Clark's has the stuff but the catalog is kinda quirky (click on the part# shown on the page to go to the price and more options)
http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog.cgi?function=goto&catalog=MAIN&section=MAIN&page=89
Good luck. And don't toss that Corvair dash cluster, some poor soul out there is looking for one.......

 

If I'm not mistaken (and I don't think I am) that lock has a side bar. You will have to drill a small (bout 1/16") hole over the side bar and hold pressure against it with a small pin of some sort while you pick it. You'll feel the side bar drop in and it'll turn. Give it a good dose of WD-40 or something similar before you begin.

 

When you know what the magician knows, it's not magic anymore

 

Like has already been mentioned, you can pull a door lock, and take that in. Some of them even have the "code" printed right on them; others, they can see the "colors" (colours) of the pins to make a key. Earlier GM cars used the same key for doors and ignition. Once you get into column ignitions, you're getting more complicated. The Tri-Five Chevrolet cars were notorious for having keys that would start a bunch of different cars. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Watch a you tube video on lock picking. They call it locksport! I watched a couple. Now I can pick most Masterlocks in less than a minute. It is easy after they show you how a lock really works.

 

Ha, I was going to take it to the locksmith to get a key made. I'm not really interested in a corvair at all, just wanted a quality GM ignition switch and happen to have this handy. I thought it would be easier to have it out of the dash for the guy.

 

Last one I did, I got a replacement cylinder and key (for like $12 on eBay), then I drilled out the old one, to a diameter just slightly smaller than the cylinder and not quite as deep, slid the old cylinder out and put the new one in without wrecking the switch. Marked my drill bit so I wouldn't go in too far, and checked the diameter of the new cylinder so I wouldn't cut into the switch. Wasn't hard at all, pot metal drills easy.

 

The switch and the tumbler are two separate parts. You can replace the tumbler with another one, cheaper than you can get a key made for the one you have. The switch is the part that it's nice to have a good old one, instead of a modern reproduction.

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...1324426,ignition,ignition+lock+cylinder,10041

 

If you use a gm key blank and file it to a knife edge,insert into switch and turn against the tumblers it will mark the key blank.then file the marks .

 

^^x2

 

this is what I did for mine and drilled out the flats ( tumblers) , there is a video on it on You tube , gm basically used the side bar locks design all the way thru to the late 80s then they went to the double sided or passlock ( chip) keys .

 

Oh my city locksmith charges $75 to do it and he has a gun that he puts in and squeezes the trigger and it was unlocked in a minute then he pulled the cylinder and he had the key code to make a replacement key .

 

Nice dash. I could use that in my Corvair van... If you wanna get rid of it let me know... I can get the switch out without damaging it...
Messed with Corvairs for years...

 

Not that it helps you, BUT my first car was a '64 Corvair. At the time my brother had a '66 Lemans & my parents had a '61 Olds. Any of the 3 keys would start any of the cars...

 

Thats a good idea. Never thought of that.