Price rant

[HP2]

When I picked up my Challenger, it had lived a hard life. One area that must have been rough was lock systems. Between the trunk, glove box, doors, and ignition, ever lock cylinder was different. I've lived with it all these years but thought since I'm getting into repairs, that is something I'll need to correct someday.

I'm working on my doors recently so I pulled the cylinders out and thought I'd take them to a local locksmith I've used in the past and have them repinned to match the ignition. I get to the place and tell them what I'm wanting, they say no problem. I ask what the going price is since its been at least ten years since I've done this. Guy behind the counter says $95. I'm a bit shocked but verify that is for the set. He corrects me and say no, that's each. I'm floored. That's stupid prices. Last time I had this done it was like $20 each. I tell him lets cancel this effort. At that price, I'll bring in the ignition cylinder and have that changed instead.

That night, I decide to check Year One just to see what they are getting for a new lock set, thinking it's probably a bunch higher than that. Imagine my surprise when I find I can get all three cylinders with keys for $60.

So I ordered a new cylinder set. Installed it last weekend and everything works great. I never would have guessed it was so much cheaper to get new stuff than refurb original stuff. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot....

[Brads70]

Your intuitions were beneficial. I did the same years ago . 

[Katfish]

Good thing you checked.
How hard was it to change the ignition cylinder?

[screamindriver]

They figured it was quick money grab...How much could those tiny pins actually cost ?? Even accounting for the labor there's no way it should cost anywhere near that amount per cylinder..

[cuda hunter]

The Lock company must do one hell of a cleaning job on the parts.
Lock guys have thousands of little brass tumblers and springs.
2 bucks in parts and maybe 10 minutes if no cleaning involved.

[RUNCHARGER]

Wow: That's insane. I keep a few extra locks around and I typically redo those myself to match the ignition key. We all like to keep small businesses going but only within reason.

[torredcuda]

I can understand $95 for the set, at hourly rates these days and most probably have a 1 hour minimum charge but not a piece!

[HP2]

I was a bit shocked. I probably would have gone with the $95 for the pair, because I figured they probably have an hour minimum for simple work like this. But as an each price, I don't think so.

Good thing you checked.
How hard was it to change the ignition cylinder?

Not really hard to do at all. Pull the steering wheel, the extension can, signal cam assembly, outer column sleeve, then you can push the pin in retaining the cylinder, and the whole key assembly slides out.

Doing the door cylinders is tougher because of the space constraints and all the connecting rods. Doing the column you get to sit in a cushy seat.
 

[dodj]

@screamindriver 's pic reminded me of when I did my door locks. Spent quite a while looking for one of those springs....

[1970Cuda]

Good thing you checked.
How hard was it to change the ignition cylinder?

Hi Katfish - I did mine last year (2024) and replacing the ignition lock cylinder is somewhere between two hours minimum to maybe four hours. It's just tedious and time consuming from my experience and there's a number of parts that are easy to get confused on if you've not done one before. It helps to have the specialty tools too I think. I replaced all my locks with new ones and it was fairly painless. The only thing is no one makes the "1970 Brushed" lock set; all of them are chrome.

[HP2]

Familiarity with the process does greatly simplify working on these...I was able to get my lock cylinder out in about 30 minutes. Even if it's your first time, watch the video on here about column disassembly to familiarize yourself with it, there are a couple of tedious steps requiring special tools that you can avoid when doing just a lock cylinder replacement.

Removing the serrated locking ring that requires the outside snap ring pliers and the pin removal tool does not need to be done. The reason is because once you remove the outer column housing with the bearing and seal, the shaft is free to move around quite a bit. With this movement, you can remove the two phillips screws that hold the locking tab retainer plate and remove that to get access to the pin retaining the key cylinder. Push in the pin, pull out the lock cylinder. Oh, make sure the ley is not in place when doing this.

IMO, the biggest pain in the rear was getting the steering shaft nut threaded back in place inside the can. You need a shallow socket and some tape to keep it steady enough to avoid cross-treading.

[dodj]

IMO, the biggest pain in the rear was getting the steering shaft nut threaded back in place inside the can. You need a shallow socket and some tape to keep it steady enough to avoid cross-treading.

I usually take a socket and wedge some duct seal in there to hold the nut when those type of situations arise.