1966 Spare tire lock - What's the difference for a 1965

[Donald H.]

I have a 66 and am missing the spare tire lock. I have an opportunity to purchase a 65 lock fairly reasonably. I have read the threads and have seen pictures posted by Gary Beaupre. It looks to be that the only difference between the 65 and 66 locks is the size of the weep hole.

Can someone confirm this please?

Thanks,

Don Harris

[Gary B.]

Re: 1966 Spare tire lock - What's the difference for a 1965

Don,

Spare tire locks for '66 and newer are unpainted. Locks for '63-'65 are painted black, except for the underside.

And yes, the other difference between the '65 and '66 tire lock is the size of the weep hole, with '66 having the larger size. Are you thinking of enlarging the weep hole on a '65 lock to turn it into a '66? I suppose that could be done, but the edge of the drilled-out hole would be a challenge to make appear correct.

Gary

[Donald H.]

Re: 1966 Spare tire lock - What's the difference for a 1965

Thanks Gary.

Not really planning to drill the hole. But I assume a 65 lock on a 66 would get less deduct than say a 67 or 63/64.

Don

[Gary B.]

Re: 1966 Spare tire lock - What's the difference for a 1965

Don,

A '67 lock wouldn't work unless it had an unrestricted or universal keyway. Otherwise, it would require a B letter key, which off course is easily recognized as incorrect for '66.

For the C2 cars, the spare tire lock has 3 points for originality, so if you used a 63-65 lock you would probably lose 1 point, or at most 2 points, depending if you stripped off the black paint or not. It is still possible to find a nice, original '66 lock, although, as always, it boils down to a dollars per point issue. If you already have a '65 lock, and are willing to strip the paint, you likely already have a lock that will lose only 1 point and it doesn't cost you anything except a little time to apply some paint stripper goop.

Gary