Stephen Tashiro
01-22-2009, 4:24 AM
A friend of my has a 90 Corolla. There were broken key fragments in the drivers door lock, the truck lock and the ignition (!). He could turn all these locks with a screwdriver or a little stub of a key. . We got the fragments out of the door and the trunk. I managed to make key that works in the door using a Dremel tool and a key blank. It doesn't work in the trunk. The key fragments from the door and the trunk are similar but not identical.
We are doing this as a hobby type activity, so I already know that real locksmith could accomplish these tasks easily. However, I'd really like to understand the shape of these keys myself. So I would like to find out how many pins are in the lock and what the spacing is between adjacent pins. I think I can get the thickness dimensions of the key from the broken fragments, but I don't know exactly where these heights have to be "to spec" and where there can be slopes. Is there a place where these specifications can be looked up?
We are doing this as a hobby type activity, so I already know that real locksmith could accomplish these tasks easily. However, I'd really like to understand the shape of these keys myself. So I would like to find out how many pins are in the lock and what the spacing is between adjacent pins. I think I can get the thickness dimensions of the key from the broken fragments, but I don't know exactly where these heights have to be "to spec" and where there can be slopes. Is there a place where these specifications can be looked up?