Sunday 6 January 2019

FHC resto nr. 74; Boot lock


One of those many small jobs that need to be done on any proper restoration. This one actually started at the end of November last year, when I visited the shed in search of a usable twist type boot lock. If possible with a matching key. All in all I managed to find four locks, including one that was donated to me by a friend. But only one with a key. Though one had a broken piece of key still stuck inside the lock barrel! I started with the complete lock.



As you can see it looked rather tatty, but it was complete, and more importantly the lock barrel was in good condition. And after some cleaning it looked much better. Sadly the chrome was badly corroded. I could have it re-plated locally, but that means that the knob's surface needs grinding back to remove the pitting from the corrosion and the loose plating. This will almost certainly remove the small rim that sits around the barrel. Time for a closer inspection of the other three remaining locks. Luckily one was in fairly good condition and deemed fit for use:


As by now I had dismantled three locks, I thought it a good idea to search for the best fitting barrel housing (or the one with the least play). After which it was a matter of reassembling the lock, which with a few pictures and a complete lock was rather straightforward. Final job was creating a new gasket to go between the lock and the boot lid. For this I used a thin (5 x 2 mm) adhesive closed-cell foam rubber.


The only jobs remaining is fitting the lock to the boot lid together with the catch and the striker. But that has to wait until after a visit to a local locksmith. See if he can provide me with some new keys. Also I'll have to go in search of a matching glove box lock. As the lock barrel I have used comes from this car, I hope the lock in the original dashboard assembly has a matching lock barrel. To be continued!

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