bonzo1974

Hi, new to Fords, Escorts, vans and this forum so please be gentle!

I wanted to replace the extremely worn locks on my W Reg van without going down the scrappy route where the locks would be worn and there would likely only be 1 key so I bought a set of 2 door locks, an ignition barrel and a rear lock kit from fleabay.

I found this guide really useful for a novice like me: http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/doorlockbld.htm

There was me thinking that I could rebuild the locks to make them all work from the 1 key - sadly there were not enough wafers of the right number codes to do that but I could use the door locks on 1 key and the ignition and rear lock on the other which was OK. (Perhaps buy 2 sets of door locks and you'd be luckier than me!)

The only snag I found was that the original door lock activator arms made of cast alloy have a pin at the end to engage into an elongated slot in the link to the door opening mechanism where the replacement locks simply had an arm with a 3mm hole in. I toyed with the idea of using a bolt to replace the function of the pin but then had another idea: take the plug and activator arm from the old lock and use it with the new wafers in the new lock body.

All works well apart from the plastic retaining ring. In order to get it out you end up chewing the plastic making it fairly useless to rebuild with. After installing the lock (and door skin) and the lock inside falling apart after a day or 2 I decided to drill some 1mm holes in the side wall of the lock body where the plastic ring should sit in a groove and wire the retaining ring in place. This seems to work, some care is required to get the wire to sit out of the way of the other parts of the lock and it is more fiddly to get in & out of the door. I have some photos if anyone wants which may explain it a bit better, please feel free to email/PM me.

If anyone knows where the plastic retaining rings can be bought (none on ebay or quick search of the web) I'd be really appreciative, but if anyone else is stuck this is at least a pretty permanent fix without having to go to the dealer!! Why is this plastic part not some sort of steel circlip?

Apologies for the essay!

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

I build up these locks for transits and tranny connects. Them key bits with the numbers on, ive got loads of them at work. I dont know if they are the same though. Feel free to pm me and I will see if I can help.

bonzo1974

Thanks for the offer, now that I've wired the locks together I don't really want to open them again as it's a nightmare without new plastic retaining rings but I really appreciate the offer!!