VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 Trunk lock cylinder removal

I have been trying to figure out how to remove the lock cylinder from my trunk lock handle.
It has no key, and i can't see any pins, tabs, etc for releasing it. I have taken it to a locksmith, and even he could'nt work it out. I have been told to drill it out, but I would like to get it out the right way.

I've had my 1941 apart, but I think I had to use the key to do it. I will look this evening through old video tapes to see if I recorded how I did it. I'm pretty sure I could not get one apart that did not have a working lock with a key. I checked the 41 manuals and they are not much help, might there be a service bulletin that would cover this, or is it covered in an old post available through an Advanced Search?

Did you show your locksmith what we have in the manuals? Might another locksmith be more helpful? I have a friend who does a lot of restoration and he always reuses locks that he is missing the key. He has a local guy that makes him a new key from the lock!!!

Good luck, Mike

The locks have numbers on them, and a key can be made from that number. I had mine done, but the locksmith used the round keys for the ignition and door lock and the hex keys for the trunk and glove box. :-( Supposed to be opposite. The trunk handle has the number on the shaft near the threaded part.

Just one question. Is the tumbler in your handle recessed like in the picture?

Move the key door out of the way and inside is a snap ring which is on the face of the key entry surface. Remove that. Next, towards the end of the threaded shaft between the chrome handle and the sliding lock feature, closest to the lock feature is a cross drilled pin about a quarter way down the shaft perpendicular to the handle. This needs to be removed in order to release the key cylinder out of the handle. No key required.

The pin Johnny is talking about.

However, the reason I ask if yours was recessed like in the first picture is. When I started working on my trunk handle, I had the same problem as you. Everyone told me the same as above. But, come to find out, my handle had been replaced with a after market handle. The lock cylinder was not recessed, but up flush and not removable. I had to find a replace on ebay.
Good luck.

Mine is flush with the housing, no snap ring, so it must be after market as well.
The whole thing has been re-plated, but was not dissassembled before plating, so I will file away the plating where that pin is supposed to be.

Why are you trying to disassemble this in the first place? Do you have a key that worked before it was plated? Did they plate the latch bar in place so it won't move?

If in fact it is a after market like mine was, it does not have the pin. I looked 3 days for that darn pin. I am afraid it can not be disassembled, at least that I could find. I finally cut it apart with a hacksaw just so I could see how it was made. The lock cylinder was inserted from the back, then the other parts, put in from the back, then sealed. At least on the one I had. Sorry!

Cound you post a picture so I can see if it is like the one I had?

what part in this pic do you remove.i have tried for a long time to remove the lock so i could re-chrome my handle.great topic

The spring wire in this pic and the pin in the first pic.

Follow Johnny's above instructions.

Go slow and ease it apart. As I vaguely remember their is a spring and maybe other small parts in there.

Everything was plated solid, in position, with a sheared-off thread at one end, with no key! I couldn't find that pin (Like Ruscar said!), so I carefully started drilling with a 3/16" bit and managed to remove most of the cylinder assembly , and get the square pin to move in and out when I turned what was left with a screwdriver.

I repaired the busted-off thread by drilling and tapping a 3/16" hole into the shaft and using a screw.

Hi... I'm trying to do this too.
the one I have is original. I got the glove box key made removed that cylinder and got the numbers off of it....and the trunk won't open with that key.
I removed the spring wire. Now how does this cylinder come out?

A couple questions. What year? You can not open the trunk?

You will be kind of out of luck if you can not get the trunk open ..As you can see by the info above the square pin must be removed to get the cylinder out...

1946 stylemaster, trunk is locked and backseat full of stuff.
I tried to post a pic but don't know how... :(

what is the deal with the snap ring then? is there any trick to pull the cyl out?

Even if you get in the trunk and remove the handle nut I am not sure if you can the handle out in the locked position???Russell what do you think?

To remove the cylinder, you also have to remove this pin. But, to remove that pin you have to remove the handle. Now, to remove the handle, it has to be in the open, unlocked position. This is what I believe. I agree with chef-chevy.

The reason I ask what year is because in '48 one key fit all. '46 has a two key system. You may be right that the glove box and trunk key are the same. Don't remember. If so the trunk may just be "frozen" with rust/dirt. Try to get as much penetrating oil in it as possible and let it soak. Good luck.

Great explanation Russell, thanks...

Thanks for the great info... I will keep trying.
it is a 2 key system I have read the manuals.

The 1948 was one key, the 1947 and prior was two key.

I just had my trunk handle replated last spring and even though I spent 5 years as a locksmith in one of my earlier jobs, this was a not an easy assembly to work on. Take your time and be careful. Take pics of the unit as you disassemble it in case you forget how to put it back together.

Chev Nut:

I've got a 48 Fleetmaster, and, my ignition and door key doesn't fit the trunk lock - not even close. The key for my trunk lock is small and two sided. Is my trunk lock off an earlier year, or, is it an aftermarket replacement? Just curious.

Regards:
Oldengineer

aftermarket.

Chev Nut:

Thanks - I suspected as much - from looking at the pictures you guys posted.

Regards:
Oldengineer

https://youtu.be/L16hj_FrUCE

Just made this video