Removing the Steering lock.

[NeoNasty]

I know this is going to sound dodgy as but here goes.

I am in the position to buy an old Celica. Its an RA60 (1982). It has been sitting for at least 6 months has no rego and its in pretty good condition condition of engine is unknown. I can get the car for next to nothing and I plan to make it a track car/motorkhana etc. It will never see the road again so Im not worried about roadworthy etc.

The guy Im buying it from has lost the key which makes it difficult to drive it home as the steering lock will kick in as soon as I turn a corner. Any idea how I can disable it? I would rather not have to pay for a tow truck as its about 1 Km from my house.

Any ideas?

[Ta22Wepn]

As far as i know if you take the ignition barrel and switch out it will disengage the steering lock

[BigWorm]

Yep as above, but it's also pretty hard/impossible to remove the ign barrell without the key, as it must be in the acc or ign position to remove it. Once it is out of the off position there's a little metal button on top of the barrel (underneath the shroud/column surround) that you just push down & the barrel slides out.
Get yourself some old toyota keys & play around with it, eventually something should work, or practice your lock picking skills.

[Ben Wilson]

Just cut/break the barrel off and the lock will come with it...

[NeoNasty]

Id rather not destroy anything if possible. I think that I might just get it towed and then I can work on it at my lesure at home.

I think I'll end up pulling out the barrel and just attaching a START button and a switch for accessories/on etc. Thanks for your help guys.

[Draven]

from memory, my mate's exa key got into my ra65.. so with a bit of fiddling I'm sure you'll be able to switch it over to acc/on

[TooF]

id take a bet that half of your toyota keys will open it.. remember ignition barrels of that era arnt particualry special and only wear out and get sloppier over time.

i know one of my mr2 keys will open and start both of my mr2s and my mr2 keys (both) would open and start my old corona.

just try half a dozen keys and your bound to find something thatw orks.

[brett_celicacoupe]

http://home.howstuffworks.com/lock-picking.htm

read and learn, then try your skills

[NeoNasty]

haha maybe I should just rename the thread, Who wants to steal an old Celica?

I did try my St162 key but no luck.I think I'll just get the thing towed and go from there. Then ive got all the time in the world. As the car will be in the back yard or on a track Im not really worried about it being stolen with no key. I'll just have to remember not to lock it. Ever!

[TooF]

id imagine just about any thief worth their salt will know how poor the locks on cars of that age are.

when you rewire it rig it up with some form of a kill switch saves having it vanish on you.

[ViPeR_NiPPleX]

Where abouts are you located? I have six toyota keys which will fit those ignition barrels.

Sometimes you can find the steering lock doesn't work, which is the case with my ra60 with an aftermarket steeringwheel for some reason?

[NeoNasty]

Six of them? You could be a very handy person to know. Im in SE Melb but I'll see how I go with the barrel

Yeah I will be rigging up a kill switch for sure.

Reading through howstuffworks, locks are simple devices eh? I'll try my other keys and see how I go.

[Cuzzo]

How do theives do it? Surely they dont pull out the ign barrell.

Did you want to reuse it again? Could come in handy when doing suspension setups.

If not cant you keep jamming the steering wheel each way untill it snaps? I think thats how theifs do it.

[Ta22Wepn]

[QUOTE=cuzzo]How do theives do it? Surely they dont pull out the ign barrell.
QUOTE]


As far as i know they use a little slide hammer and stick it in the barrel give it a little whack and good yank and comes the barrel VL's are common fro this

[NeoNasty]

I dont need the steering lock, but I would rather not damage the interior if I can avoid it. Its actually in good condition. Except for shit everywhere. Slide hammers are a brute force way of removing locks. Im not sure how effective they would be on ignition locks as they are more complicated than just simple unlock/lock function. I'll head over this afternoon and see if any of my other keys suit.

Im not sure how it would be handy for suspension set ups. if I was to keep it round.