Odd key question..

[Dirty Rockstar]

Ok, well.. WBodies of the First Gen variety as early as mine have 2 keys: the main Ignition key, and the Aux key for the trunk, door locks, glove box locks.. Now, my dad's 91 Toreass has the same deal, except the Ignition key also opens the doors.. I would rather have it setup like this, so I only really need to carry one key on my personm when I go out.. I'm sure its possible, but.. I just wanted to see first.. If this isn't possible with a WBody Ignition setup, what GM can I get to do it? Newer Cavvys, Achievas, Grand AMs? Any help, I appreciate it!

[5speedz34]

IIRC:Almost all new GM's do it, basically any car with keys that have "ridges" on both sides.

[Justin]

Better yet, just get keyless, then you just need the ign key and the fob. It'll be tough to find a newer GM with the early W style column and a double sided key.

[Dirty Rockstar]

I dotn want to go Keyless.. Not part of the look n feel if you will- I am goin for.. I suppose if I could find an Ignition cylinder that can go in the hole and start the car, I can modify the column to fit it so it looks stock..

 

EDIT: I thought you meant aftermarket car starter shit.. I want a factory GM keyless entry, but.. What happens if the battery dies?

[Prospeeder]

what wrong with keyless, u press a button and ur car unlocks, or u have to fumble for keys, try to jab it in there, then turn it, why dont u want keyless

 

EDIT: OH OK! lol dont wanna sound dumb now

[Dirty Rockstar]

EDIT: I thought you meant aftermarket car starter shit.. I want a factory GM keyless entry, but.. What happens if the battery dies?

 

My bad 8)

[DiscoStudd]

Remove your door lock cylinders and take them to a locksmith to see if they'd be willing to key them to your ignition key. I know it's a long shot, but that's the best shot you have at having a "one key fits all" car. The early W's and early L's were the only GM's that had those steering columns (and those keys.) The mid 90's Cavaliers and Grand Ams that had the similar (but double-sided) ignition keys also had the separate oval door key. I don't think it was until the late 90's that GM started rolling out the single key locking, and by then, those steering columns were long gone...

[5speedz34]

What about 1.5 gen Monte's(later ones)? They might have gotten the single key? If so, they have the same column as ours.

[Dirty Rockstar]

What about 1.5 gen Monte's(later ones)? They might have gotten the single key? If so, they have the same column as ours.

 

MONEY!! I'm all over it like Santa on Mommy! (According to Michael Jackson, whho is also all over things now a days...)

[5speedz34]

No prob!

[DiscoStudd]

No no no, the 95-99 Montes have the "Saginaw" style column, which reverted back to the "square head" keys (plus the VATS chip) like most "normal" GM's had from 1970-1999. There's no way you'll ever get a 94-01 Gen 1 lock cylinder to work in the 88-93 column. None of the 94-01 Gen 1 and 1.5 W-Bodies had single key locking (I can guarantee that because I own 3 of them and they all have 2 keys.)

 

I think it was "stockgp" who put a 97 Cutty column in his 90 GP and had to do a ton of fab work to get it to mount properly. I'd say if you went that route, remove the VATS lock cylinder and replace it with a normal "saginaw" lock cylinder, and see if you can buy a complete matching set of door, trunk, and ignition lock cylinders. I doubt you can buy a set like that new, but I bet you could find a complete matching set somewhere because GM never changed lock cylinder styles for close to 30 years so there's bound to be a set somewhere...

[Prospeeder]

the 98 Grand am even had 2 keys, at least i think..... mabye i dont remember correctly, but my friend 98 GA has 2 keys

[Dirty Rockstar]

hrmm.. My girl's 97 Achieva has a single key for the whole car.. That long, skinny one with the square head..

[5speedz34]

I would try to find out what GM cars came with the 1 key and go from there.

[digitaloutsider]

the 98 Grand am even had 2 keys, at least i think..... mabye i dont remember correctly, but my friend 98 GA has 2 keys

Our '96 had the single key. Dual-keys were phased out on the N-bodies beginning with the 1996 model year.

[GnatGoSplat]

I've been wanting to do the same thing for some number of years.

I've always thought GM's key setup was very 1970's... every other car company went to the single bi-directional key setup in the 1980's. GM was very behind in switching.

 

Anyway, I was never able to get ahold of any newer key cylinders to compare, so I never went anywhere with this.

 

I'm definitely interested to see what you can find out. No first-gen W-body got bi-directional keys, so you're definitely going to have to think outside the W-body realm.

[DiscoStudd]

I wonder if a column from a 97-03 Grand Prix will easily slide into an older W? IIRC, the door lock cylinders for those GP's slide in behind the door handle and don't have a mounting flange, so I was thinking a set of door lock cylinders from a 95-05 Cavalier could possibly work on a 4-door Loomie (the Cavs had the single key locking starting in 95.) I think the keys on the 97-03 GP are the same as the keys on the 95-05 Cavaliers, so there's another route to try. Get a steering column from a 97 GP and see if an ignition lock cylinder from a 97 Cavalier will work in the GP's column. If it does, order up a complete set of lock cylinders for a 97 Cavalier keyed alike, and there you go!

 

BTW, I had no idea the Grand Am's started the single key locking in 96 (I had a 94 that had 2 keys, so I assumed the GA's stayed that way until the redesign in 99...)

[GnatGoSplat]

After watching the Pontiac G6 commercial... that's the car I want a column out of!

[Dirty Rockstar]

BTW, I had no idea the Grand Am's started the single key locking in 96 (I had a 94 that had 2 keys, so I assumed the GA's stayed that way until the redesign in 99...)

 

Don't forget the small redesign in 95 or 6.. Same car, all rounded..

 

Now, I am planning to head to a salvage yard, grab up a single-key column, lock cyliners, etc.. Then tear the column apart, and the spare W one o have.. And I will see what I can do.. They can't be that different because GM hasn't changed much.. Pull back for Accy, off, on, start.. Gonna give this one a whirl.. And I'll have a key less prone to breakage IN the ignition cylinder!

[DiscoStudd]

I've seen 97-03 GP columns up for sale on eBay, and it looks to me like the "bulkhead" electrical connector is the same as the older W's. Whether or not the column physically bolts in is another story (at least it looked the same at the firewall end) but I'd assume all of the switches on the newer column would be plug-n-play to the older car. Granted the switches are all physically and mechanically different, but if all the wires match up on the bulkhead, it shouldn't be a problem...

[GnatGoSplat]

Hmmm, 97-03 GP column's dash and firewall mounts look VERY similar to first-gen columns. Hmmmm... I might have to get ahold of one of those.

 

Are 97-03 turn signal switches a lot more reliable?

[Dirty Rockstar]

Hmmm, 97-03 GP column's dash and firewall mounts look VERY similar to first-gen columns. Hmmmm... I might have to get ahold of one of those.

 

Are 97-03 turn signal switches a lot more reliable?

 

I hope so! lol.. Im gonna snatch up a few different columns.. lol..

[digitaloutsider]

They're far more reliable. I can attest to that.

[DiscoStudd]

Are 97-03 turn signal switches a lot more reliable?

Yes, and waaaaay easier to change! It's actually an all around better design (everything is self contained in one "module" that has 2 bolts bolting it to the column.)

[WhiteMonteZZZ]

Having both worked locksmithing and having Strattec catalogs, I will say this:

Can NOT be done. It can be done on Gen 1.5 MCs/Luminas with a fleet 9c1/9c3 ignition coded to the door key, as fleet luminas had single-key systems. The ignition you early guys have (with the HUGE headed ign keys) has a sector gear on it. All sector-gear ignition locks don't have door lock counterparts with the same keyway. Those that do don't have the same style door locks.

About keying the door cylinders the same as the ign key:

Can't be done. The physical keyways are completely different. The only way an ign key would unlock a door would be 73 and prior locks, but again, those are the same style locks as the 91-96 9c1/9c3 locks.

Swapping columns: COULD work. But, the GP door locks won't mount easily, at least not that I'm aware of, in either the 2-door top-mounted handle attachment nor will they work in the 4-door gp, cutlass, etc handles. If you could rig up some mounts, and swap the pawls off of the old locks, you MAY be able to have single-key system from a 99ish GP, but again you'd need the whole column.

Hope this huge post helps you guys out in some way