1960 Door Lock and Esteuchen/ss trim bezel

[Dick G.]

I'm having trouble getting my repo lock cylinder and its repo trim ring/esteuchen to fit together. Whats the trick. I did this 15 years ago on my 57 and don't remember this problem. When together, what position should the arm be in reference to the notch? I thought they should be 180 degrees apart. The arm pointing inward and the doors lock hole notch 180 apart. In order for this Esteuchen to fit I may have to widen the notch/ file down. Anyone else have this problem? repro sucks
Thanks

[Peter L.]

Re: 1960 Door Lock and Esteuchen/ss trim bezel

Dick - First of all they are reproduction parts. Enough said. The original 56-66 Corvette door lock escutcheons, p/n 3725526, had 2 wider slots, ~5/16" wide, opposite each other and 2 narrower slots, ~3/16" wide, opposite each other and one of the narrower slots has a tang that is roller over to the back to hold the escutcheon firmly to the door lock case. In 1967 the Corvette door lock escutcheons were changed to p/n 3879449 and these escutcheons were similar in configuration but had 3 wider slots, ~5/16" wide, and 1 narrower slot, ~3/16" wide. The narrower slots has a tang that is roller over to the back to hold the escutcheon firmly to the door lock case.

So, while the newer escutcheon will work on the 56-66 door locks but the older escutcheon won't work on the 67 and probably newer Corvette door locks. So while, I would hope the reproduction locks and reproduction escutcheons would be compatible, but when it comes to reproductions all bets are off.

The bottomline is I think that you answered your own question and the answer is to "bend, fold, mutilate, or spindle" or in this case "file" to fit.

Have fun and good luck. Pete