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crumy story

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Here's what I do:

1. Remove steering wheel;
2. Remove steering column cowls;
3. With a Dremel tool, cut straight screwdriver slots in the 2 'studs' holding the ignition switch to the column;
4. Unscrew the 2 'studs' & remove the switch.

Take it to a locksmith who can remove the broken key & make a new one.
 
pakiwi said:
Walshja,
Are you an AA member. If you are, give them a call. Mobile Service.
They may be able to help and free if you are a member.
Allan
Click to expand...
AA might help your friend's wife in this situation, but for you AAA would be better. :jester:

I just can't believe the <span style="font-style: italic">audacity </span>of some people. A punk kid perp, one would believe, but an <span style="font-style: italic">adult </span>should just know better. You're showing remarkable restraint, so kudos to you--'twere me, there would be a beatdown goin' on somewhere. :cooler: At the least, I'd be looking into some serious litigation.

If you're gonna drop the column, you might as well pull it right out. Undo the bolts under the dash, the three bolts on the firewall, and the pinch bolt, undo the harness connectors, and the whole thing'll pop right out. Then you can puzzle over it from the comfort of your couch. (go ahead, ask me how I know!)
 
All I know is that after reading through this thread, first thing tomorrow morning, I'm going out to have two sets of keys made for the Sprite. walshja, I hope everything works out for the good for you. I can't imagine how frustrating this must be for you. Oh, I guess I can, I own a Sprite. However, I'm not so proud as not to learn from other's lessons.

Magyar
 
I know we've been going on but - go to a locksmith before you try anything else. I had one break off in my van and he pulled it out easy peazie. DON'T make the ob more complicated unless you have to
 
all great advice, I have a locksmith coming over tomorrow.

but I can't take credit for appearing to be cool throughout this, I actually blew up at my wife today, kinda ugly. i expressed my anger at her, since it was her friend who still has not accepted responsibility.

was an ugly day today at my household, hopefully the locksmith makes everything all better tomorrow, then hopefully I can make things better at home.

hopefully a good report within 24 hours
 
walshja said:
was an ugly day today at my household, hopefully the locksmith makes everything all better tomorrow, then hopefully I can make things better at home.

hopefully a good report within 24 hours
Click to expand...

sorry man you've got it backwards

first wife then car

whatever else, she had nothing to do with it herself. sh*t happens. Apologize and make up - then worry about the car
 
What if there's no pleasing the wife?
 
My wife doesn't care for it. She tolerates it, barely. I ditched the motorcycle a few years back largely because I wanted her to "get into it" and enjoy the hobby with me. She didn't care for the old car I got. Now I have the MG (which she said she loved when I went shopping for it (took wife and kids along and all votes counted). But I don't know if she's jealous of the time I spend on it (I try really hard to put it last). or if there truly is no pleasing her. I have to decide if I'll just give up trying to make her love it and enjoy it myself, or sell it off. This is a bad turn for this thread sorry. I actually put mine on Craigslist yesterday, for a pretty high price I think. I'll probably pull it later today. I love the car. I had so much fun scooting around yesterday.
 
Hey Joe,

While the locksmith is over, you might want to get him to cut you an extra key for the doghouse! :wink:

Pretty sure we've all been there...
 
I've been married a little over 20 years. She and I were good friends for 8 years before that.

I owned MG's before we got married, I taught her how to drive a clutch in my 69 MGBGT. She has always like the cars, but maybe that's because she learned to drive one when she was about 18. Who knows?

Now we are both members of the MG car club and we go to the meetings together.
She asks good questions.
She likes the social aspect of it, there's a lot of car talk at the meetings but also good friendly activities.

She really likes the Midget, and wishes she could drive it more.
I've got my MK2 Sprite now and I'm getting it road worthy but it's taking longer than she wishes as she knows when I start driving it more she gets to start driving the Midget more.

She's excited about getting the 5 speed put in the Midget, as that's going to make cruising that much more fun.

I guess she's a keeper. :wink:
 
I'd ask if she had a sister but it's a bit late for that.
 
Apply a tiny bit of 5-minute epoxy to the broken edge of the key head and offer it up to the lock, taking care to touch it exactly to the broken off piece. Hold still for 5 minutes (not 6 hours) and then gently extract the key.

Glen
 
Glen_B said:
Apply a tiny bit of 5-minute epoxy to the broken edge of the key head and offer it up to the lock, taking care to touch it exactly to the broken off piece. Hold still for 5 minutes (not 6 hours) and then gently extract the key.

Glen
Click to expand...

or like someone else mentioned, gel super glue, either that or fast epoxy is probably better then JB Weld but if the JB grabs it will outgrab the other two, I'd certainly be asking a lock smith first in any case!
 
an update

1st. the wife loves the car, I was just mad at the situation and took it out on her, took it out on her because it was her friend who did it, and her friend never fessed up to doing it. guess I was expecting my wife to be as upset as I was. made up with her this morning, everything is back to normal. my wife loves all the cars I have, and she even has her own motorcycle as well, she is a keeper.

2nd. locksmith came today, spent about 45 trying to extract the key, about half way through he let me know things were not looking good, maybe 10 minutes later, lowered expectations even further, then about 10 minutes later exclaimed "got it". the best $95 dollars I spent in a long while.

what a weekend !!!! the positive out of all this is that I now know how to start the car without a key !!!

thanks for all your tips and suggestions everyone
 
Glad to hear it all worked out in the end! :thumbsup:
 
As the bard said..."All's well that ends well" :thumbsup: ! And look at the education you aquired! Priceless!! :cheers:
 
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