DLK2 Door locks in 3-ish easy steps.

For the first time in since i bought my wagon i took the time and money and put it aside, to start my restoration.

Back in 2003, an old friend Keith basically broke into my car through the back window by forcing the roller and then pushing the window down as the rest of my group wandered over from an animation Seagraphs awards special at the new Vancouver Film School's studio. Well he boldly claimed "it's an old car, like it matters?" Well needless to say it has still yet to be fixed, and the existing door locks were pretty much worn down anyway, but, to this day, i still have yet to get the back roller to engage the window until to actually roll:( since then the wagon has had many dings and dents, and even a door being wedged out by random passers byes and even people i have offered rides to when stranded. It will be a constant restoration as i see it, due to the humans ability to have no consideration or fess up to responsibility, but one of a very interesting journey of boyhood dreams, and realizations (yes, Women really do dig nice and interesting Cars;) and yes, they do take a lot of time to do right.

With that, i began to work at Lordco, in order to gain knowledge of my wagon and to get parts at a great discount. Well, as it turns out, the job pays barely minimum wage, and at the time of my first 5 months, i needed even that on account of my Mac being down and design was no longer working. Well one great month, a fantastic offering came my way. A Mac Powerbook G4 was given to me by a photographer and since then things are picking up and back up the road. So with a new roommate on the future road, and the old ones mess smell at my doors edge, i can now begin a new brighter future of restoration, design and art work, all such great energies, and with it, my door locks are the first to be installed.

Door Lock Cylinder model: BWD DLK2

So, basic tools you will need (assuming door panels have already been removed):

Rubber mallet (always use when needing to tap and not dent).

Long Flathead screwdriver

Two needle nose; Long nose, and Beaked.

Hobby file set.

Now, to begin, always think of where things came from, so keep on side together never do anything doubled up unless you know exactly where things go, this i learned years ago while being involved with RC cars;) Lay out the parts as you open the box and set them basically on display to reach for one by one as needed.

Now, begin disassembly of door one in three easy steps.

1. Reach in with a long screwdriver and simply slide the retainer back out and catch it as it falls.

2. Disconnect door lock engaging unit and slide locking cylinder out on outside of door.

3. remove engaging unit by removing the locking c clip, but YOU MUST NOT damage it, unless you have extras already knowing how delicate this are. Parts as you know, are not easy to find. this is where you the beak nose needle nose came really handy, use em.

All done! Now, i take the time to clean everything before assembling the new cylinders with a basic woolen polish like NeverDull™.

New Lock cylinder Installation:

1. Reverse the removal basically at this point, but when you get to the c-clip, this is where the double needle nose pliers are needed. If you noticed, the clips came out with an angle to them, they need this to be functional. the intercept the cylinder and then hold on so it doe snot slide around, but, due to this are a bugger to install. I honestly found this the trickiest part of the whole job;) I used the files here to clean up any burrs or rough edges. The c clip need some work on both sides to slide back into place.

2. insert seals that came with the new cylinders if needed (mine would not fit, most likely due yo paint build up on exterior, so i kept them for future use.)

3. Install unit back in and so it engages lever.

4. Replace backing clip if useable, or use new one that came with the cylinder. i used my old one as the new ones were rather soft.

There you go, step back and look at how easy that was! Repeat steps for door two and you're done.

Now all my work is being done without a garage of my own, so I am more of a renegade mechanic when it comes to working on my car. I installed a horn while sitting at Kits beach once while it was pretty chilly outside- not recommended unless you like the attention and scenery;) Now if if i had a shop, and a basic vise stand, drill press, table double grinder- a lot of this restoration i am sure will be a much easier and faster process.

Next on the line up, Rebuilding my Dashboard and Gage console before installing my Painless Wiring 12 circuit system (the big cheese of the whole car next to engine, body and paint! ).

The Space

It's been awhile since I tapped my fingers across the keyboard to talk about the Wagon or my blogging in general, so I hope with the warmer weather I jump right back in.

In my past blogging I mentioned and placed an advertisement so I could find a parking spaces my slumlord of a building owner does not want my wagon in the back, insured or not. He never gave a reason, other then "just because". so with this I began my hunt. At first I found a spot far off, roughly 11 km away from my door as my speedometer suggested and it was uncovered with a very exposed area, that one particular gentleman decided it would also make for a great place to nap, on someone's car. I paid the man, a Polish Man who was rather nice, but after thinking on it some more, and even with the Wagon just sitting on the street illegally, I decided to not follow through and just let him have the months rent for honor's sake. so once more, the ads went up. Almost a month later, so December of 2009, I get a call form a man who saw my add in a coffee shop. He offered a great spot for $40 a month and it was only a few blocks away, in a great area (even with a gas station right next door;) and in a new Condo with clean indoor parking. 

I have to say, owning an old vehicle, people love to see it, comment on it often, but when it comes down to it, the average person seems to have an almost annoyed reaction when they see a vehicle not being driven, especially when you have no other vehicle, so finding a parking spot in Vancouver, right before the Olympics where some people are boldly charging up from $65- 300 a month for parking, and would you believe during the evens, in event based parking zones, up to $90 a day! I never thought a parking space would be such an adventure;)

So now Mr. frosty is warm and cozy and already the first project went well and then next one, budgeting allowed, will be active and posted before spring- a complete Painless™ wiring kit installed!