Technical Is the glove box lock on a tri 5 Chevy the same as the doors and trunk?

My wife inherited her late dads 55 but sometime after he passed the trunk key has come up missing. Can I take the glovebox tumbler out and get a key made?

 

was on my 55 chevy.

 

I don't think it's as precise as the trunk lock, but I haven't owned one.
If you have a local locksmith in mind, I'd contact them directly so they can confirm your thoughts.

 

Try the ignition key on all the other locks, it should work...but then again, locks get replaced over seven decades, so you have to try and see.

If not...

You can get into the trunk by removing the back seat, it's a fun adventure. Then twist the end of the lock shaft where it pokes through the trunk latch to open the trunk. Take out the lock, see if it has a number, get a key made to that number

 

^^^^^ Did that 35 years ago with my avatar. Hate to do it today.

 

Hey, kid. I'll give ya a nickel, uh a buck to go in and unlock the trunk!

 

That nickel is 20 buck’s or more today. I’ll get back there. Just not so easily.

 

My recollection is that there were 2 keys. The ignition key was semi-square-ish with corners on it......
and one was round or oval that opened the doors, trunk, and glove box. I'm pretty sure there was never an odd, third key just for the glove box.

 

Seems to be a 55 thing two have two key’s. Here’s a copy and paste story. All other comments on 6’s and 7’s mention only one key for everything.

 

I skimmed through the 55 car owners manual, no mention of what keys fit what. The 62 corvette owners manual does mention that one key fits all it's locks. But I would not be surprised if the 55 came with two different keys.

I don't remember if you can see the number on the glovebox lock...I could go look at one, or you could google it, or you could take out the lock and see if it has a number.

If you feel like making your own key from the number, it's a fun adventure...

http://selectric.org/manuals/locks/index.html

I had to do it for my Vette since it was missing the key.

 

Wow this surprises me.
Johnny Gee and squirrel both got it right.
Not guessing,,,, just telling what it is,,,,
Glove box and trunk same. ( Oval head )
The doors and ignition are one. ( Octagon )
I shouldn't but hey we're all friends I hope.
In the day crafty thieves could find an unlocked car.
Open the passenger door pull, the clip holding the tumbler and make the ignition key off of that.
Another way,, after the tri five were ten years old,, was just having a couple different keys could start anyone of them.

 

this^^^^ wife's 55 has orig keys

 

To be sure you can easily pop a door lock out. Number is stamped right on it.Trunk and door should the same.

 

The doors should use the ignition key to unlock unless someone changed the ignition lock cylinder.
Take the glovebox lock out, find a good locksmith preferably an older shop, and have them cut a couple of keys.
The glovebox lock and the trunk use the same key.
If the door lock doesn't unlock with the ignition key you will have to remove a door lock and have a key made also.
The door locks are easy to remove, when you open the door look for a rectangular shaped piece of metal in line with the door lock.
Pry it out a little ways and the lock can now be removed .
Hope this helps.
KK

 

Thanks guys

 

If the glove box and trunk locks are supposed to use the same key (and both accept the same key blank) and you find a key code stamped on the glove box lock, you may be in luck. If the glove box lock isn't stamped it may be sort of a crap-shoot. I don't know about 55s specifically but a lot of older GM glove box lock cylinders only used 4 tumblers (plus a dummy cylinder retainer tumbler) while the trunk locks used 6 tumblers; one for each of the 6 cuts on the key.

 

Trunk, door and glove box locks were NOT THE SAME KEY UNTIL THE FUCKIN 70S!! This is one of those nails on a chalkboard things to me, just like anything before the mid/late 60s, THE PARKING LIGHTS DID NOT STAY ON WITH THE FUCKIN HEADLIGHTS. I wish I had the $$$$ people have wasted all these years making such things wrong. And at our age, you really don't remember? Even if you're a bit younger, 1st old car? I'd bet not.

Ok, I'm done, carry on. Oh wait, doors and ign the same. Aight, now carry on. No really, I'm done...

 

The '55 210 I had, had a square head key for the ignition & doors, and a round- or oval-head key for the glove box & trunk lid. My '37 Chevy had the same, as did my '67. My wife's '71 Olds Cutlass has the same. GM thing........

 

On some cars. This is the 1962 Corvette owners manual...and I made a key to fit the number that I found on several of the locks, and it fits all of them.



Generalizations don't always work out so well.

 

here's the owner's manual for 59 cars. The earlier ones don't mention which keys do what...

 

Up until 1968 Gm only used seven key cuts in all their makes and models. My dad had a 58 Buick and I had a 62 Chevy and they both used the same key. One day at work the boss was late and we had pickup trucks needed to make deliveries. Between four sets of car keys we were able to get seven trucks on the road.

 

I've owned my '55 210 2 dr since 1970. Same key works everything. The guy I got the car from bought it in 1965.

 

sounds like bs to me....I have a collection of old GM keys (B10 blank as used from 1935-1966), and there are more than 7 cuts just in my meager collection.

here's the first of 6 pages of cuts GM used on these keys.

 

I knew a guy that had a 56 4 door that had three different keys! Each door was different than the ignition. But it was put together from junkyard parts, so doors had been changed and other stuff too. He never did change them out, just had each key marked for purpose.

 

I tried taking the gas filler flap lock from a non Hamb style car to the locksmith and the locksmith told me that that while that lock was operated by the same key, it was a simpler cheaper made mechanism and didn't provide enough information to make the trunk key. Don't know about your situation.

 

Ok, I decided to get serious about this...I found my baggie of glovebox locks from 50s Chevys.

To find the number on the glovebox lock, you have to uncrimp the stainless bezel, then remove the cylinder from the housing. Think about how you'd crimp it back in place, and not damage the visible part of it, before doing this.

Also, if you have the ignition key, and it opens the glovebox, but not the trunk, then this won't help you at all.

 

Yep. That's exactly the situation I was describing in my previous post. GM did the exact same thing with their later models that used the 10 cut double-sided keys. Ignition locks were designed to use 10 tumblers for added security. Door and trunk cylinders only had provisions for 6 or 8 tumblers, IIRC. Only slightly less secure but the lock cylinder assemblies could be made a bit shorter and more cheaply. And a single 10 cut key in good condition would work in all locks.

On their latest models you're probably lucky if GM (or other makers for that matter) even use just one lock cylinder per vehicle in the driver's door. Keyless entry and remote starting has eliminated the need for more. And the younger locksmiths have very little experience with the locking systems on our HAMB era cars and trucks.

 

@squirrel's post of the glove box lock photo reminded me of another source of confusion with GM's lock cylinders.

It was not uncommon years ago for some body shops to have to recode a door or deck lid cylinder when making repairs with used parts. Most body shops didn't have a body man with the experience and/or a tray of the parts needed to properly recode a cylinder to "as new" specs. But they might have had a few odd used tumblers and springs at their disposal.

With some trial and error experimenting they might be able fit a couple of the of the correct, used tumblers in the right couple of slots in the cylinder that worked properly with the correct depth cuts in the key that were in the correct positions. Lots of body shops had no interest in waiting for a new lock cylinder to be ordered, much less waiting and paying for a locksmith to properly and fully code up the new cylinder. Out the door it went but at least it worked with the customer's existing key.

For the glove box lock in Jim's photo it should be a fairly easy to pick that style of lock and be able to turn the cylinder so you can access and depress the dummy retainer tumbler. This should allow you to then remove the cylinder from the case without damaging it.

It does take a bit of practice and patience to develop a feel for doing this kind of work but hell, even I've gotten a pretty good success rate at it. But it only works for this style of lock where the tumblers themselves are what prevents the cylinder from turning. For the GM "side-bar" locks used in most door and trunk cylinders, well . . . let's just say I haven't developed that skill set quite yet

 

I got my 55 in 1972 from my great aunt, who was the original owner. I am still using the original key (hex shaped), and it works in all of the locks.

 

It was said above, if you know a half dozen tri fivers, borrow their extra key.
I saw it happen at the tri 5 nats. A guy locked himself out of his car and they were almost ready to coat hanger a 15k paint job. My friend collected our keys and saved the day.