Keys

• New keys!!
  

If you live in the mid-Atlantic region like I do, you'll have noticed that the only spot of sun we've had in the past week and a half was for a few hours yesterday morning. Naturally, for the gradstudent who doesn't have a garage, this is disastrous. As such I have now piled up parts I plan to install over the next few weeks, such as a brand new 2-inch straight-through exhaust (with accompanying manifold) and a carb rebuild kit. More on this as soon as the weather picks up.

One new part that arrived that I was able to test out was a set of keys I ordered. You see, when I got the car I didn't have any keys at all, so the car was left unlocked pretty much all the time, and I used a screw-driver to start the car (the key had broken off in theignition). In an earlier post I described how I had to drill out the lock on the gas cap. I really needed new keys but didn't know what to do.

Taking the trunk lock off and bringing it to a (Sears and Strosniders) lock smith, they told me they couldn't make keys for it. Of course, they were just being lazy as it's pretty easy to do. I gave up and started looking up new locks to install, but much to my dismay it seemed like I'd be putting down close to $100 for a new set of locks! Which is outrageous when you consider that I already have good locks, I just need keys. I left it at that and hoped nobody would do anything to my car.

Much later I finally realised that there's such a thing as a lock code, a number that defines what key combination you need. Further, depending on the model of your car you can look up what type of key you need, attach your lock number to it, and the locksmith can make you a brand new key. For the 1977 MGBs you're looking at an FS type key, with three numbers following it describing the combination. Ignition keys are of type AA. More info here.

Great, I found the key combination (it was printed on the door locks and on the trunk lock, see this), and now all I had to do was order the keys, which I did from here. I chose Keys4Classics.com because they have a more personal service, so despite being on the other side of the world your order will be correct. You can even send them a photo of your key (or part of your key) and they'll reproduce it. Keep in mind, though, that they are located in Australia (but shipping doesn't take much longer, about a week total for me).

When you finally have your new keys and are ready to test them out, keep the following in mind:

• Make sure the lock is sound, not completely rusted, and not loose. I didn't check my trunk lock, which was loose from the last time I had opened it, and ended up almost permanently locking the trunk. I was able to jimmy it open without drilling the lock, but I was freaking out.
• Use a lubricant on the locks and the general locking mechanism. If your locks haven't been used in ages, like mine, they will need some lubrication or you stand a chance of breaking the whole thing.