Leroy the EK Ute

[thebrotherj]

7:30am visit from a local locksmith this morning is making me feel better about the fact that I simply cannot get the ignition barrel to turn round to the lock position, for removal.

He battled it as much as I did and don’t win!







He cut a fresh key to the code on the old key, which matches the code on the old passenger door lock. A read of the ignition tumblers seems to match this, but it still wouldn’t turn left no matter what we tried. A bunch more picking and fiddling... then the dremel came out to cut the lock ring off. Oh well.

I already installed a new aftermarket door lock and have a new matching ignition barrel to go in, but on closer inspection, I don’t know that the EK lock lock ring will work with the aftermarket ignition barrel. Bah.
Anyway, he took it away and said he’d try to resurrect it for me and give me a shout tomorrow. He’s a nice bloke, and thorough enough, but not experienced in early Holden architecture it seems. Stay tuned.

The bench seat renovation on the other hand went very well. I think the colour of the VHT satin blue vinyl dye is just superb. Looks a bit more HK Holden era to my eyes, but bloody hell, it looks good.





Side trims have settled down as they dried to a nice dark blue too. Can’t wait to see it all in the car... but is now camped out in the tray while I finish the interior tidy up.




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[Errol62]

Seat looks great. The VHT stuff is very good.

To my surprise I got my FB ignition switch out of the dash simply by unscrewing the ring and removing from behind dash, where it could then be simply disconnected from the wiring and removed. Taking the barrel out of the switch still required inserting a pin in the little hole and turning the key beyond lock. You did put a pin in the hole and push while turning the key didn’t you Joe? I find a large brad with the point cut off works well.

I have your clip ready to post Monday mate.
Cheers
Clay


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[thebrotherj]

Seat looks great. The VHT stuff is very good.

To my surprise I got my FB ignition switch out of the dash simply by unscrewing the ring and removing from behind dash, where it could then be simply disconnected from the wiring and removed. Taking the barrel out of the switch still required inserting a pin in the little hole and turning the key beyond lock. You did put a pin in the hole and push while turning the key didn’t you Joe? I find a large brad with the point cut off works well.

I have your clip ready to post Monday mate.
Cheers
Clay


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Oh gawd yeah, I’m familiar with how these barrels are supposed to work, pin detent and all, never encountered this kind of trouble before though. Plenty of prodding and twisting and jiggling etc...

As far as we can make out, there’s an issue in the tumbler ‘bar’ or the switch body itself that is fouling so it won’t turn left.
I had also tried simply removing the ring but it jammed on the barrel, as it is supposed to, no? Your situation doesn’t seem right, but then I’ve mainly played around with later models in the past.


Thanks for the circlip! A minor detail, but I’ll feel better knowing that is snapped in properly.

Cheers, Joe


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[BILLY BLACKARROW]

I had the same problem with my old lock mine was out of the car so a little easyer .all the crud over the years wouldn't let the tublers slide so i soaked in WD40 over night and blooooooo it out with air and it came out, through the barrel away because i had a new one to fit anyway.hope this helps someone
BILLY

[thebrotherj]

I had the same problem with my old lock mine was out of the car so a little easyer .all the crud over the years wouldn't let the tublers slide so i soaked in WD40 over night and blooooooo it out with air and it came out, through the barrel away because i had a new one to fit anyway.hope this helps someone
BILLY

Thanks Billy, I never used compressed air, that’s a good tip. But mine was much the same, crud everywhere. The locksmith gave me a talking-to for using WD40... cos it leads to future crud, but it has always worked for me. For cleaning the barrel out in the short term at least.

Something’s seriously amiss inside this one though. Curiosity is killing me, I really want to know what’s going on, even if I end up having to replace the whole assembly.

Cheers, Joe


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[Harv]

Something’s seriously amiss inside this one though. Curiosity is killing me, I really want to know what’s going on, even if I end up having to replace the whole assembly.

Careful, that's the early warning signs of a serious reverse-engineering disease. Next thing you know, you'll have a shed full of stuff that is pulled apart. Don't ask me how I know .

Cheers,
Harv

[thebrotherj]

Careful, that's the early warning signs of a serious reverse-engineering disease. Next thing you know, you'll have a shed full of stuff that is pulled apart. Don't ask me how I know .

Cheers,
Harv

Haha, damn. You’re absolutely right


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[thebrotherj]

Spent way too long today trying to align the tailgate. This car was rear ended years ago (so Jodie tells me) and it wasn’t latching properly, as everything is slightly out of whack. Got it working pretty good but had to make up a coupla shims to go behind the RH striker to make it perfect. Bit dodgy but who cares, it’s miles better than before.



Also vacuumed out as much garbage inside the tailgate as I could and hit it with two coats of the rubber-liner paint.



Also managed to get the spare wheel door lock working, just waiting on a new seal for that to arrive... then I gotta work out how to adjust the striker on that latch too, so it pulls all the way home when shut.

Never ending little tasks...



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[thebrotherj]

Locksmith just rang, he sorted the ign barrel on his own time and will drop it to me at work tomorrow. Says the ‘bar’ was sitting very proud cos it’s all worn, but he reports that my new aftermarket barrel is in and working correctly.

$80 - that coulda been worse.




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[In the Shed]

G'day Joe,
With the ignition lock yes the barrel has to come out the front before you can remove the bezel then remove the switch body. The barrel is a larger width than the ID of the bezel. Occasionally I have trouble getting my cylinder to the lock position too. I use powdered graphite to lubricate my locks. If you don't have any of that rub a pencil over the key and operate the lock a few times.

I also had the same problem with the spare wheel door not sealing properly. I glued a thin piece of aluminium up where the lock tounge went to make it seal, worked a treat.

Enjoy reading your progress, thanks

Regards
Stephen

[thebrotherj]

G'day Joe,
With the ignition lock yes the barrel has to come out the front before you can remove the bezel then remove the switch body. The barrel is a larger width than the ID of the bezel. Occasionally I have trouble getting my cylinder to the lock position too. I use powdered graphite to lubricate my locks. If you don't have any of that rub a pencil over the key and operate the lock a few times.

I also had the same problem with the spare wheel door not sealing properly. I glued a thin piece of aluminium up where the lock tounge went to make it seal, worked a treat.

Enjoy reading your progress, thanks

thanks Stephen. We used graphite powder back when I was on the tools, but for oldies that are already full of gunk, I like to clean em out first... I had a play around with the Selleys Ezy-Glide that the locksmith used and it seems pretty good. I forget that I have a little air compressor in my shed now... Billy's suggestion of blowing out the barrel is a good one.

Yeah, I'm getting some ideas about making a little striker/spacer that I'll either pop rivet or screw in place for the spare wheel door latch, whatever is least fiddly to get the job done
Cheers, Joe

[Errol62]

I agree with all four of you, and would add:
1. Saturate with penetrant/lubricant
2. Flush clean with aerosol degreaser or electronic contact cleaner
3. Blow dry with compressed air
4. Lubricate generously with graphite powder. Wipe off excess. Good to go.


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[thebrotherj]

I agree with all four of you, and would add:
1. Saturate with penetrant/lubricant
2. Flush clean with aerosol degreaser or electronic contact cleaner
3. Blow dry with compressed air
4. Lubricate generously with graphite powder. Wipe off excess. Good to go.


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That’s what I call thorough!

I might just chuck in some preventative graphite powder into my new barrel, which the locksmith just dropped off to my work.



Coupla battle scars - some vice jaw marks and he drilled a hole into the side and discovered the tumbler bar was jammed solid. But he plugged that up and yep, it’s now all working perfectly.

Joy!


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[thebrotherj]

Ok the ignition is back in and working correctly, just waiting on a new nut/lock ring to materialise. Will rummage through some of my old parts tubs in the roof a bit later before looking online.

Handbrake is installed with a new primary cable courtesy of Rare Spares which adjusted up nicely after a bit of stretching-in. Installing this gave me flashbacks to the moment the old one snapped, when loading Leroy onto the trailer up at Blackheath. With the brake master failed, I used a combination of handbrake and clutch/engine compression to lower him down the very steep drive. When the cable snapped, the engine didn’t have enough compression to stop the car, but mercifully, my brother was there with a spare wheel to throw under a rear wheel before it ran away.

Observe exhibits A & B:





That scared the bejesus outta me I gotta say.

So now I’m looking at the wiring for the high beam switch. Previously, this has been inside the car as there was a later HK-T-G era switch bodged into place.



But I now have the correct original style switch & rubber gasket, with external terminals.



My question is: does this wiring go through one of the unused holes in the main harness grommet and down the firewall near all the accel linkages?



Or should I just run it inside and sneak it out beside the column through the circular rubber seal, then down to the switch? I see that there’s a cable holder clip on the back of the lower column shroud for this harness too.

I’m leaning towards running it out the firewall grommet for general neatness, provided the wires reach...

Cheers, Joe.


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[Errol62]

All the wiring goes out the main grommet Joe. From memory they are bundled with the oil, coil etc for the first bit. The hydramatic floor pan runs the same EJ on internal switch for some reason.

I have an ignition ring you can have. Been a bit slack and was going to post the circlip tomorrow so I will send the ring in the same letter.


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