K-F Cory: April 2009

After the Kaiser arrived and was parked in its spot, I went to lock the doors, only to find out the key I had did not fit in the locks (although it did fit the ignition). At first I thought the locks might just be frozen and sprayed them several times with WD-40 in an attempt to loosen them up. But it became clear that these were the wrong keys.

After consulting with my Kaiser-Frazer_chat_group I learned that I did not need to take the door panel off as I thought I would (what a relief!). There is an access hole in the door jamb you use to remove the locks. So I took the door locks out. While I was at it I decided to take the lock out of the glove box, because it too was did not work with my key.

A couple of screwdrivers and a hinged mirror were all I needed to remove the glove box lock

Close up of the glove box lock hole

Once I got the door and glove box locks out I took them to a local locksmith, who kept them for 3 days before telling me they couldn't fix them. It looked like I needed a specialist, so I turned (as I always do in cases like this) to Hemmings_Motor_News, the largest and best publication for everything related to the old car hobby. I found a locksmith, Jessers, who specializes in classic cars. They said they could do my lock cylinders, so I sent them away.

Door locks (left) and glove box lock (right)

I waited a little over a week before getting them back. I was surprised to find that they had not rebuilt the glove box cylinder (they never called me to inform me of this, just put a note in with the other keys). I later spoke with them and they said they could make a new key for the lock. This was after I had already received the locks though, so I decided not to bother with it: it's not the end of the world if I can't lock my glove box.

The day after I received the locks I installed them in the car. I had to remove the door handles to do it, which is also a simple operation, accessible through a hole in the door jamb. The most difficult part was guiding the rebuilt lock cylinders back into their proper slot in the door. As you can see there is a long shaft protruding from the cylinder, which needs to line up exactly into a slot on the opposite side of the door, which you can't see because as you put it in, the lock cylinder blocks your view. I slipped a magnetic_grabber in through the handle hole to guide the shaft into the slot and it worked well.

Lock and handle removed. I went through the handle hole to guide the locks back in. Note the original Stardust Ivory color (too dirty here too look very good).

Lock now installed

The locks are now installed and I can finally lock up the car! I will probably wait until I get around to the restoration before I fix the glove box lock (again).

One of the things I struggled with when deciding whether to buy the Kaiser is the fact that I don't have a garage right now. I decided, though, that since I plan to restore this car one day that any weathering it might get parked outside can be fixed in the restoration. Besides a good cover will protect it well enough for now. So, once I bought the car, I started looking for a cover. Initially I liked the idea of a touchless car cover, but the Kaiser ended up being too long for that. After some searching I decided on the Covercraft Evolution Car Cover, which is supposed to give the best protection for stormy weather like hard rain and hail which we occasionally get, and also does a good job of keeping the sun out. When you order the cover they custom make it for your car, so it fits really well. They do not, however, make an opening for an antenna, and since the Kaiser has an antenna I had to make one from the kit they provide. First I test fitted the cover on the car.