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TR2/3/3A Lock Help...you out there JP?

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Check YouTube, it has any number of instructional videos on how to pick locks. The TR3 locks are trivial to pick; you just put a bit of rotational torque on the cylinder, and use a paper clip or whatever to lift each tumbler/wafer in turn.
 
What Randall said!

I gently held the lock in a vise, just to keep it steady. I then used a thin screw driver with my left hand to put some clockwise pressure on the cylinder. With my right hand I used a tiny jeweler's screwdriver to push and release each of the 5 wafers till it finally popped loose. One ignition took less than a minute. The other was about ten minutes...but I later found that one of the wafers was bent in that one. Probably from somebody trying to jam the wrong key in too hard.

The glove box and trunk locks are different. If you already have them out of the car, you can go from the back side and see the wafers inside the slots. It's just a matter of sliding a thin screw driver down the slot to align the wafers. Only takes a few seconds on those locks.

If this is still fuzzy I can take more pictures to clear it up...
 
Tr3aguy said:
Not sure this is the path that you want to take on a public forum.....but I have a code of ethics I have to adhere to...
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I don't see the problem. This is a forum for repairing old cars, and locks are part of them. If someone were going to steal a TR3 (or even a TR7), they aren't likely going to waste time picking the lock. And it's not like we are talking about how to build a pick gun or slim jim or even how to pick a modern "high security" lock (even though even that information is also readily available on the Internet).
 
I don't have a problem discussing lock repair or issues with locks.....just seems like the post took a turn of sorts....to each his own and yes there is a lot of information on the web. Not trying to tell anyone what to do , just stating my piece, Randall...
 
I understand your position, JP. I spent 11 years in the Air Force. Even though I've been out over 20, there is a lot of classified stuff I cannot talk about. The funny part is that most of it has been declassified, so it's public knowledge...but I'm still debriefed not to discuss it. Anyway, sorry to make you uncomfortable.

That said...I look at these locks as being more toys than real security devices. I say that because I definitely don't know what I'm doing and I could pull the cylinder in under a minute. I was in a position of having 2 hulks with no keys, and I figure Chuck is in a similar situation. Just trying to help a fellow gear head...
 
We are good. Really. I entered into a agreement, for my profession.....sometimes it puts me in a spot. Nuff said....I know how simple the locks are. Locks only keep honest people honest.....:smile:
Didn't mean to hammer the forum too hard either....all parties involved.
 
Randall, John, And JP. Thanks for the info. I have been on an antique car tour and just got back to my computer - that is why it has taken so long to respond. I did not mean to cause any problems, it is just that the iginition switch on my basket case TR3 had no key and I was trying to save the expense of buying a new switch and lock cylinder. I am really glad I found this forum - it has been a big help in my restoration.Chuck
 
CJD said:
Even though I've been out over 20, there is a lot of classified stuff I cannot talk about. The funny part is that most of it has been declassified, so it's public knowledge...but I'm still debriefed not to discuss it.
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Which is exactly the kind of silliness that has kept me from ever wanting a security clearance. It's been almost comical over the years, how I can tell what my friends are working on by what they suddenly can't talk about.

The security wonks seem to think they are the only ones who can tell if the sun is shining, and want to keep it a secret from the rest of us; because we might attack them at night or something. Even without the Internet, it takes only a moderately curious 13 year old boy to cut apart a lock and see how it works. And by extension, how to pick it, make keys for it, etc. I used to drive my parents nuts, dragging home junk to cut apart and see how it worked.
 
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