Yesterday my bus was broken into on a shopping mall parking lot, no signs of forced entry so i am assuming this piece of Marmite junkie had keys. (happened to me before on an old Golf) I just went down and took a bunch of vw keys left from my previous cars and tried to open my door.... One bug key opened it, a bit of wiggle and POP! only worked on two locks, and only unlocking. It's no big surprise that you can use other vw keys to open different locks, i've done it before when club members left their keys inside, but what should one do about it? Is it possible to make custom cylinders to accommodate more up to date keys?
You'll need to either look to get some refurbed locks or refurb your own with new 'wafers' in the barrel.
^ what Horts said. The 70s locks weren't that great to start with, and wear (mainly on the "wafers" and key) doesn't help. They're pretty insecure. One poss is to change them all for the later Brazilian-style locks (double-sided key?), but the barrels may be bigger so you'll have to change handles etc.
I think schofields refurb them, other than that I would get a bunch of old locks use the wafers to re-key them, sounds like the wafers have worn.
Sorry to hear of the violation..... It's security isn't it @Sven ? Solenoids? Alarm? Big F.O. German Shepherd. ^^^^refurb is a good start. We sometimes lash the cab doors together & exit from the slider but how do you then secure that? Hasp on the inside of the slider & exit from the hatch? It gets a bit daft. Good question......
I can replace the wafers, i've done this on two locks already, and those are the locks I can't open with the wrong key, but as you said, they weren't very secure to start with. I'd love to change the whole barrels for something more modern, like the mul-t lock keys. These thieves carry a bunch of vw keys and just try them one by one, VW's were very popular here during 90's, Golf was the no.1 stolen model for a long time. I don't know if it still holds the record, but there is certainly a lot of "know-how" on opening old vw's in dark corners of society, and our locks are not much different from early Golfs and Passats.
Not really sure what you can do re locks - just best to leave nothing worth nicking in the van. Bays are pathetically easy to break into, even if the locks are in good shape.
Vw's have always been an easy model and they made it easier when they put pull locks internally rather than levers next to the handle. When I locked my keys inside my old t25 it took someone 2 minutes to get in with banding and a bar. When my van got broke into thought they went straight through the window. Must of had a shock when they pulled the knob up and it pulled straight out although they then just unlocked the sliding door. I'd say an alarm is the best deterrent by far!!
Even a flashing LED, visible from the outside can be a deterrent if fitting an alarm is out of the question. As Scott says, they'll get in if they want to. Flashing lights deter the wimpy opportunist scrotes.
This - cheap & cheerful, stick a flashing LED in. You can forget about the rest of the alarm. Everyone ignores them.
This type of thing. You can turn it off if you want & disconnect the main battery for extra car park security... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dummy-alarm-RED-Flashing-LED-Light-with-AA-battery-box-/121246608377
We do a complete set from a brazilian Bus which will fit Bays from 75 model on as its for the seperate barrel lock on the slider, 211-898-375, these are literally hot of the boat last week, haven't even got them on the website yet so if you want them you'll have to call up. It will mean the whole van so: cab handles ignition Slider barrel tailgate engine lid all on one key and all on the new double sided more secure keys £179.50 Inc Vat Retail, so you'll get a 5% club discount on that.
THAT sir - is a BRILLIANT idea ... Months of power on 2 x AA , no drain on the van battery . Won`t put off anyone but the casual scrote but well worth a punt...
That does look pretty useful. If you're handy with a soldering iron, Maplins sell a Velleman kit that has a flashing LED driven by a comparator than only turns it on when you switch the ignition off. Other cheap possibilities are to buy authentic-looking alarm stickers from eBay for a few quid.
Yes ALL Black, personally think it's look ace especially if you blacked out the headlight rims and door mirrors, Proper stealth!
I just bought new rear handles because i wanted to replace the black ones, I like chrome. Do Brazil barrels fit into old handles? I have an alarm with a flashing light, but it stopped working two weeks ago, and hadn't had time to see what's wrong. He didn't steal much, just my jacket with nothing in it, and I don't keep anything of value in the car when i'm in town, but when we go on holiday is when i'm worried about. I've seen some ad on locks being put on bays that went to Africa. these were not very pretty, but apparently effective. I might just install central locking and disable all the locks apart from the hatch. i also have the inside locking pins removed.
Ruby got molested at all entry points at the eden project years ago we had NEW locks fitted but I discovered that the old key worked the NEW locks and the one old lock she kept would work with the modern style key. The keys did not match when held side by side.
The massive security locks are fine but won`t stop anyone unless you bar all the windows ... Think like a thief - big FO locks on the doors ?? Go through a window - soooo easy - even with the bars across a child could easily wriggle in and out, no problem , a windscreen could be cut out with a stanley in a few seconds or a brick through it for the less sutle approach.
