Twenty Years Ago
An article featured Lanny Swanson and how he started his automotive locksmith business. Tom Gillespie showed how to open a Ford Taurus. Jerry Levine serviced the lock system on a '95 Chevrolet Cavalier. Jerry Levine also reported on the new personal anti-theft system (PATS) to be used on some 1996 Ford vehicles. Mazda lock servicing was also covered. Richard Dickey described his tough dealer negotiations while purchasing a new work van. Richard Formica discovered some facta about wafer lock tumblers. T.C. Mickley studied the Preso-Matic keyless lock lineup. A Dade County, Florida, locksmith ordinance wwas the subject of an article in Locksmith Ledger. Has the ordinance helped locksmiths in Dade County flourish during the last 20 years? An article on Hayman floor safes was featured. Another article featured imporrted safes from I.S.M. An interesting article on American key boxes for stocking key blanks in service vans was presented. Where are they now? Mark Moneta suggested how to improve business sales and marketing. Sally Fradkin interviewed Irene Wickward, a lady locksmith in Miami. Any other women in locksmithing we can interview? Milt Wolferseder serviced a McGunn cash handler safe.
Ten Years Ago
Ilco introduced their TKO multi-function programming tool. Jerry Levine explained how to use the AD30 transponder coil detector by Advanced Diagnostics. A comparison listing of card numbers used for the HPC 1200 machine and the Ilco U2 was printed. Bill Neff introduced us to the Genie transponder programming machine. Tom Gillespie suggested several products to display for increasing impulse sales. Jerry Levine installed a Baldwin two-point lockset. Tim O’Leary looked at the Trilogy narrow stile locksets by Alarm Lock. Tim O’Leary also reviewed access control power supplies. Key bumping got into the news again 10 years ago and Gale Johnson looked at the problem and offered solutions. DORMA introduced their SKC cylinder lock which offered increased key control. A handy cross reference listing of transponder key blanks was printed. A second listing showed code information for late model vehicles. Bianchi introduced their electronic keyheads and separate horseshoe key blades for mix-and-match cloning.
GM TRUNK HANDLE QUESTION
A locksmith sent in a question concerning how to remove the lock cylinder from an antique GM trunk handle. GM used an 'L' or 'T' handle from the late 1930s to the early 1950s to operate the trunk lid. Every GM car model had a different handle shape and size but all of the handles had one common theme. A steel shaft was attached to the die cast handle. The shaft was hollow and contained a smaller shaft which operated a locking bolt near the far end of the shaft. The smaller shaft had a circular groove. A solid pin was installed sideways into the steel shaft and retained the smaller inner shaft and lock cylinder. A suitable punch can be used to drive the steel pin out and the lock cylinder and shaft can then be removed for servicing. The key code can usually be found stamped on the side of the steel shaft. This NOS lock handle has to key code of 9268.
