1977 CJ7 hardtop door handle lock removal

[vmw]

Does anyone know how to remove the lock cylinder from a 1977 CJ7 hardtop steel door w/wo the key. I am baffled.

 

[vmw]

Thank you for providing insight into solving this problem.

Are you able to take a photo of the door handle and mark the spot where the exploratory hole must be drilled.

It sounds like I have to drill through the exterior chrome plated surface.

The original door handles have more flex in the flex spring which accommodates misalignments of the door exterior sheet metal and the interior latch.

I bought several aftermarket door handles which look fine in appearance but miss subtle design features of the originals.

1) The rectangular shaft is too long and protrudes through the interior latch about 3/8 of an inch or more. I could remove the shaft and grind it to the proper length.
2) The flex spring may not exist or it is not flexible enough. There is not enough of a gap between the diecast ring and the diecast escutcheon which houses the two exterior mounting screws.
3) The roll pins are too long and have to be ground down to the diameter of the diecast ring diameter.

The Omix Ada aftermarket door handles have problem 1), 2), & 3).
The Crown aftermarket door handles have problem 2)

The pictures of the door handles by the vendors may not actually portray the gap for the flex spring.

I may chrome plate the original door handles. If so, the chrome plating company would silver solder the exploratory drill hole and it would not be noticed by anyone.

 

[hagar]

Sorry, I don't have a handle in front of me.

Yes you will have to drill thru the handle...thru the pot metal, aluminum, whatever the material of the handle will be.

You only want to drill thru the handle material. Be careful to not drill into the cylinder/cylinder retainer. The retainer will be brass in color, so peering thru the hole it should be very distinguishable.

One possible way to ID the exact drill point would be just passed the tip of the key blank; there are 5 cuts on your key, so, the retainer would be about the #6 cut (if the blank were long enough).

You could insert your key, observe where the blank stops against the cylinder face, then withdraw and measure the distance from the shoulder to the tip of the blank. Do the same to the outside of the handle.

Regarding the proper location; it should be on the flat (upper or uncut) side on the key blank. if you look inside the cylinder, you will see the brass wafers; the drill hole would be above them and to the rear.

Once you find the retainer and remove the cylinder, do take note of the cylinder orientation in regards to the drive mechanism inside the handle.
Other wise, you will be drilling another hole in the other side of the handle to remove and reinstall correctly.

 

[vmw]

Does anyone know how to remove the lock cylinder from a 1977 CJ7 hardtop steel door w/wo the key. I am baffled.

Based on the response by a member, it is clear that the best thing to do is to buy new aftermarket cloned door handles with the same key. Any mechanical issues that I have discovered with Omix Ada or Crown door handles can be surmounted with a little effort. I would only drill the door handle to remove the lock on an extremely poor original door handle by trial and error. I have not looked for the lock cylinder much. I doubt it will be easy to find. There is no guarantee that any aftermarket door handle would use the same lock cylinder either. So, in my opinion, do not buy a pair of door handles that do not have keys. I would never have imagined that the lock cylinders would be installed and not be removable without destructing the door handle with a drill bit. Not only that, the drilled hole in the door handle would have to be filled with silver solder and re-plated to make the part look new again. It would be more trouble than its worth. Cosmetically, the Omix Ada and Crown door handles and excutcheons look virtually the same as the OEM door handles.