rekeying locks in a type 44

[Mike Arman]

Two part message follows



Kneale had a question about what to do if the local junkyards are now
"pre-owned automotive component recycling centers" i.e, no pick and pull,
everything has been removed by THEIR own in-house staff of monkey-lads and
priced even higher than new because they are *proven* to work . . . unlike
new parts, which are obviously untrustworthy because, well, no one has ever
SEEN them actually do what they are supposed to. (What am I bid for a used
head gasket? Proven for 75,000 miles!)

Get out the local yellow pages and start looking for junkyards a little
further out of town. The older and seedier the operation, the more likely
you will be able to get in and harvest what you need yourself. It may be
worthwhile to talk to some local body shops and ask them where the deals
are, or talk to smaller, independent repair shops, and ask them the same
thing. Once they understand that you don't plan to go into competition with
them, they might tell you their sources.



Plan B might be this: I understand that K series BMW motorcycles use
different thickness shims to adjust valve clearances, and it sometimes
takes a few tries to get it right. The dealers will gleefully sell you all
the different sizes (if they even have them) for $$$$$$$ each, and you get
to keep what you don't need.

As I recall, somone has made up a "community shim box" with all the ones
they didn't need, and anyone who plans to adjust their valve clearances
just asks for the box. When they are done, the shims they don't need any
more go into the box to replace the shims they did need, and the box gets
returned to the "host".

We might consider the same thing. A plastic box with several compartments -
one for the wafers, one for the springs, one for misc. door cylinder parts,
another for trunk lock parts, etc. The box would go out by priority mail,
and a few pages of instructions should go with it (I'm thinking of the
lock/alarm synchronization problem of later models, and the unlock lever
update service bulletin).

You use what you need, clean everything up, and restock the box with
whatever you didn't need, then return it. Pure honor system.

Actually, this might work better than the BMW shim box, because the most
popular shim sizes are the middle sizes, and eventually the box will
contain only very thick ones and very thin ones. With lock wafers, the
thicknesses are random, and the wafers don't wear out, so there are no
"most commonly needed" sizes to worry about.

Comments?

Best Regards,

Mike Arman