1968 Spare Tire Lock

[William H.]

Can someone shed light on the spare tire lock and boot for a 1968 for flight judging purposes? The judging manual doesn't say too much so am I able to buy a lock/boot key correctly from one of the big suppliers? Or, do I need a NOS or a used one? Thanks for any suggestions. Bill

[Jack H.]

Re: 1968 Spare Tire Lock

GM changed keys/locks in '67. Prior to that, there were four discrete tumblers/wafers that were used to code the locks. From '67 up, five tumbler/wafers were ised AND the side of the key was grooved with variable size/position grooves to add keyway 'coding' to the mix of variables to increase the number of permutations for locks.

The keyway coding specifics are designated by alpha characters (A, B, C, D...) that you'll find stamped on the side of the key. In '68, the keyway coding sequence was 'C' for the ignition/door key and 'D' for the glove box and spare tire lock key.

The Judging Guide and Performance Verification manual instruct judges to assess this aspect of keys and locks for factory originality and deduct accordingly. The 'acid' test is any 'D' coded key should slide all the way into the spare tire lock while any other coded key will be 'rejected' by the lock (won't slide more than 75% of the way into the lock).

So, it depends on what you're looking for in your purchase of a spare tire lock...anything that fits/works, or what's considered to be factory correct/original for your car. If it's the later, you need to find a spare tire lock that hasn't been 'monkied' with, has D-keyway coding, and have it coded to match you existing rear compartment glove box lock.

Most catalog houses will only pull what locks they have at random without checking/testing them for keyway coding. And, the lion's share of what I've seen from the catalog houses have H-coded keyways...

[Terry M.]

Re: 1968 Spare Tire Lock

Can someone shed light on the spare tire lock and boot for a 1968 for flight judging purposes? The judging manual doesn't say too much so am I able to buy a lock/boot key correctly from one of the big suppliers? Or, do I need a NOS or a used one? Thanks for any suggestions. Bill

Contact Pete Lindahl through the contacts button at the top of this page. He was on vacation last week, so give him a few days to respond.

[Mark D.]

Re: 1968 Spare Tire Lock

Contact Pete Lindahl through the contacts button at the top of this page. He was on vacation last week, so give him a few days to respond.

Terry is right on the money...Pete is the best.

[Kurt B.]

Re: 1968 Spare Tire Lock

Another vote for Peter.
Peter Lindahl did my 68 spare tire key and was extremely helpful in explaining the details and differences to me.
Money well spent, to have it done right.
Kurt