So, last Monday night I put my early 1991 Miata into my garage. I left the top down as the garage is dry and secure. This weekend we have a planned trip away, but I believe that my keys got thrown out with the rubbish in error (I have a house proud wife and we think they got knocked into a waste paper bin!)
So, how would others overcome the situation that I have now found myself in? No keys, cant push the car out because of the steering lock, and not a clue how to replace said keys! I don’t know the number (would it be on a lock barrel?)
Please help if you can, I need all the (preferably non-destructive) advice I can get!!!
But seriously, if its an early model and has no immobiliser etc (another issue all together) then I would use a trolley jack to get the front wheels up and slowly move the car out of the garage to gain access to work. Door and iginition barrels with keys are easily obtained on ebay for a reasonable cost. The hardest part will be removing the ignition barrel. It can be done with perseverance.
I believe it is also possible to just remove the lock from the barrel in some cases but never managed it when my key snapped, Im sure someone here will enlighten us all
Do you have any manuals/documentation with the car?
If so look for a 5 digit number, starting ‘10’ or ‘11’. People/dealers often write this number down at the start of the service manual on the MK1 car - you might be lucky and will save you taking your door apart.
Not that easy to find a key cutter who is able to cut to car key code but they are about. If you have difficulty PM me.
With the benefit of twenty-twenty hind sight, the first thing I did when I got my Mk1 was have a spare key cut and put it in a safe place (no honestly I know exactly where it is).
At one point I had awful trouble with the lock on the drivers door which requiring j-j-jiggling just so to operate it. After acquiring a set of used locks and keys off Ebay I stripped down the door to discover the problem was actually with a fubar after market remote ‘central’ locking system that was jamming it up. So I ripped the remains of that out of both doors and all was then well. I had wondered what the fancy ‘plip’ did that came with the car, other than arm (and if very lucky disarm) the ancient Clifford alarm. That got ripped out very quickly when I discovered how short a time even a Westco battery would last with it still connected. Still, I now have the big jiffy bag full of lock bits in the shed if ever needed,if a senior moment causes me to lose track of the spare key.
When I bought my 95 Eunos last yr it came with one key only (I always find this very irritating when buying a second hand car!). this was all metal with a very narrow top making it awkward to use and it didn’t look like what I imagined an original should and it didn’t work particularly well in the boot lock. I went to Timpsons for a replacement and they struggled to get a good cut and a more experienced colleague tried again without extra charge and kindly let me keep their first attempt. He told me that one side of the original key was possibly faulty and cut both sides of the new key using the “better” side of the original and I ended up with a nice key with chunky plastic handle which works extremely well in all locks. Being OCD I asked him to cut another for me but this time it didn’t work so well so he tried again for free and again let me keep the first attempt. As a result I now have 2 really good keys and 3 slightly dodgy keys which would work in an emergency. These things help me sleep well at night! I was tempted to buy a third immboliser fob when I had an aftermarket immobiliser fitted recently - I used my cognitive behavioural techniques to resist the temptation but suspect my sleep isn’t quite so sound.
I would feel very uncomfortable having only 1 key for a car and given the aggravation of losing that one key a trip to Timpons seems a very cost efficient way of avoiding trouble down the line particularly as the cost even for an immobiliser key is so reasonable. It may also in a small way help when re-sellling the car.
To be fair, not all early door lock barrels will have a key code on. Over the years, I’ve “reset” 4 or 5 driver lock barrels out of 90-93 cars, and 2 of them had no code on. Bit of a faff to try and remove the door lock in a typical British garage, with a door half open, and then discover it was a bit of a waste of time (yes, I know you have to do the same if replacing the locks, but at least you can start with the ignition lock, and then get the car out on the drive with more room and less risk to paintwork and spine.
Best of luck to the OP. I see no reason to criticize.
As said, thank you to all! To try and help solve your bafflement, We have arranged to go away in this car on Friday, ww live 20 miles from the nearest Mazda dealer, who I phoned and they investigated VIN, and said they could not help. My garage has a metal bar threshhold followed by a gravel drive, so the trolly jack idea won’t easily work. I decided therefore to have a multipronged attack to ensure that I got it sorted in time, I ordered keys from the number on the barrel as suggested, but they may not be here in time and there is no guarantee that they will work. A spare set of locks and ignition is a guarantee that the car will be ready in time, and will be useful for the future on my or my son’s Mk1s. It only takes 20mins to change the ignition barrel, so time not an issue, at least it will be mobile!
I was a little stunned by the criticism tbh, I did take all the advice, and have answered rhino666’s thread directly. There is no immobilized on this car, so an easy swap in order to get mobile and away for the weekend if the new keys don’t arrive in time or don’t work! Thank you everyone!
Please see my reply to rhinos thread. Why do people think that an ignition switch is so problematic? 20 mins tops on a very early MX5, with no immobilizer. All other suggestions were explored first! So many thanks to all for the pointers.