TR6 How does this steering lock come off

[Got_All_4]

Trying to free these up and doesn't look like there is a way to separate the two half's. No heads to grab onto and looks like it was mad that way. Please advise.

 

[martx-5]

Yeah, those are sheer bolts. Made to be tamper proof. It might be possible to walk the bolts out with a small chisel, or probably best to just drill the heads off of the screws. Center punch it, start with a small drill and go about a 1/4" deep and then go to larger sizes until the head falls off.

 

[Tybalt]

They used breakaway bolts to install the steering locks. See that "dimple" in the middle of the fastener in pictures one and three, that's what's left of the "breakaway bolt head." You will have to drill out whats left of the "head" of the bolt to remove them. When you get the head to separate from the threaded portion on both bolts, you will be able to remove one of the bracket halves and get the rest of the bolts out of the other half. Then when you reinstall, use socket head screws to make it easier for the next guy to remove the steering lock.

 

[bobhustead]

When I was a BMC line mech, we had a recall of MGB ignition locks attached with the same bolts. I removed dozens using the corner of a small sharp chisel to rotate them out. A drill sounds good, but we couldnt get them in position on the Bs
Bob

 

[dklawson]

While you can drill, chisel and punch the "head" of the shear bolts out, I use a different method.

Take a die grinder with a 1/16" thick cut-off wheel and slice into the diecasting and the heads of the bolts. This makes a screwdriver slot. You might find a screwdriver can then be used to remove the bolts. More likely, you'll need an impact driver to back them out. Regardless, cutting and using the slot is fast and easy compared to other methods.

When you put the lock back on, don't buy new shear bolts (unless you really think a thief is going to look to see what fasteners are there). Instead, visit the hardware store and buy regular socket head cap screws. Check to confirm this... but I believe the locks use common 5/16-18 (coarse) threaded bolts.

 

[Got_All_4]

That's what I was afraid of. I like Dougs screwdriver slot method. While I was reading the replies I'm thinking of getting out my left hand drill bits. Bob I'm sure back in the day a chisel would have worked fine but I'm thinking that over the decades there got to be a lot of corrosion from the 2 dissimilar metals and I'm thinking of adding some heat to the aluminium because it will expand faster the the bolts. Although this is a parts car and what I'm using from the car is going into a 69 which doesn't have the steering lock. I would eliminate it if it was going back into a 70.

 

[Marvin Gruber]

With Doug, cut a screwdriver slot using die grinder or dremel tool. Have done it several times with the lock still in the car. The sheer heads break off with little pressure so they don't need much to be backed out. Put back with regular bolts.
Marv

 

[mrv8q]

From the way back machine...

https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcf...on-switch-removal-on-a-tr6&highlight=Ignition

 

[Got_All_4]

Cutting that screwdriver slot worked great. One side came right out and the other a little heat did the trick. Thanks!

 

[dklawson]

Great! As I mentioned earlier, for re-assembly regular socket head screws will work fine in place of the shear-head bolts. Once you install regular screws you won't have to go through this again!