Steering Column Repair or Replace

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Pigeoncracker
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat May 08, 2021 3:15 am
Car(s): 1976 Ford Capri

Steering Column Repair or Replace

Post by Pigeoncracker »

Good afternoon,

------ Skip to dashes for TLDR:

The start of this story begins with a lost ignition key to my 1986 MK2 Capri. As usual, I call a few locksmiths out and one offers to take a mold of the ignition and see if he can replicate the key. I agree and give him the funds and off he goes... on a trip to out of country. I wait a little while, and he comes back to finish the job after his vacation and wasn't able to succeed. He gives me my money back and goes on his way. I check out my car and he left all of my locks disassembled. Great.

At this point, I needed to transport the car to my new house, and got it loaded on a flat bed. Guess what, the key was underneath the car buried in some gravel. Feeling overjoyed, I try to turn the ignition. The key doesn't go all the way in, and if I jam it a bit, it doesn't turn the ignition either. I take a flash light and the damn guy broke a key off in the bottom of my ignition. Great.

I do a bit of googling and learn that you can drill out the pin in the bottom of the lock cylinder and remove it. Ez pz, I drill it out. Cylinder still cannot be removed. So, after a bit more googling I learn that if it's been siezed, I need to drill out the lock cylinder. I take my big drill bit and go to town right into the key hole. Finally, SNAP, it comes out in pieces along with parts of my steering column. I'm a real lucky guy, if you couldn't tell.

------

Sooooo, steering lock assembly is toast along with the ignition cylinder. Being in the Americas, what's my best option to getting this fixed? I want to try and sell the vehicle so I'm not incredibly enthusiastic about spending a lot of money. I was curious if the steering lock assembly could be replaced instead of the whole column. And if I have to replace the whole column, is there any other cars in the Americas that would have a direct fit? Like the mustang. I'm really struggling on figuring out a solution to this problem.

I appreciate the help!
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D366Y
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Car(s): 1986 Laser 1.6, daily runaround project
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Re: Steering Column Repair or Replace

Post by D366Y »

Yes you can remove the ignition barrel without removing everything the whole steering column

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/385560691038 ... media=COPY

Usually the advice would be to insert the key into the barrel, turn it to position 1 and then push something into the small hole on the underside of the barrel to release the pressure on the spring and then the actual ignition barrel itself can be wiggled free - may be more fun for you if you can't turn the barrel though!
A wise man once said... "you can never have too many capris - buy another" :beer:
It's me, I'm the wise man.
Paul G
Posts: 1857
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2015 5:21 pm
Car(s): MK 3 3.0S needing restoration, 2.0S, 1.6 Laser (nearly ready), Skoda Octavia VRS, VW Polo 1.4CL
Location: High Wycombe

Re: Steering Column Repair or Replace

Post by Paul G »

I had an MGB that I bought without keys. I took the shrouds off of the steering column exposing the lock and its mechanism. This, as in a Capri, was attached to the steering column with shear bolts - ie bolts whos heads snap off when they are tightened to a certain torque. I took a centre punch and drifted the bolts out until they unscrewed by hand and the whole lock with barrel came off. I disconnected the electrical switch then took the whole lot to a locksmith who took it all apart and made me a new key. It cost about £30 which I guess is $50 ish in American.

I'm sure you could do similar and take it to a locksmith over there to get the broken bit extracted. You then can refit the lock just using normal bolts with a bit of locktite on the threads.
nemo
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Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2023 11:52 am
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Re: Steering Column Repair or Replace

Post by nemo »

Paul G wrote: Sun Apr 23, 2023 7:34 am I'm sure you could do similar and take it to a locksmith over there to get the broken bit extracted. You then can refit the lock j
Paul, unless I`ve misunderstood, hasn`t he already drilled out the barrel as there was a piece of key stuck in there?
Pigeoncracker wrote: Sat Apr 22, 2023 8:48 pm I take my big drill bit and go to town right into the key hole
I`m guessing it`s now FUBAR? Maybe get a new assembly from Caprigear,Tel: +44 (0)1507 343148 (workshop). He could probably get a locksmith to then `reset` the profile in that to match one of the door locks if he wants the same key for all?
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