Defeating steering lock

I have been using the Rally America rules as a guide for my build and have a question. Clause 6.4.22 calls for the disabling of the steering lock. A quick search on this site and hitting the FSM yield no solutions. Do you have any experience in this matter?

-JD

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M4XVLTG3
I have been using the Rally America rules as a guide for my build and have a question. Clause 6.4.22 calls for the disabling of the steering lock. A quick search on this site and hitting the FSM yield no solutions. Do you have any experience in this matter?

-JD

Why would you hit the Creator of the Universe?
I mean anybody who knows me knows i cuss in 3-6 languages when i work but what did the Flying Spaghetti Monster do to earn your wrath?

Peace, mang.
And may you be touched by His Noodly Appendage

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Does it look like this??



Or this

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SteveL
This is the point in the killing spree when you really should turn the gun on yourself

There are two ways to do it on the corolla.

The first way I did it, as when I got mine there wasn't a key for the ignition... I just cut through the little "bridge" from the ignition cylinder do the column piece. It's all aluminum until the lug... which is probably hardened steel. Maybe just normal.


the other way is I believe when you take the lock mechanism out of the cylinder, it lets you access a small hole or bolt or maybe the lug itself, which can then be slid out, if you want to retain the key starter. I don't remember this part too much, sorry :/

If you just want a button start, wire it up so you have a switch for acc, off, and ignition on, and then wire the "start" button in. Or try to find a momentary switch if you'd like. This works well with just cutting the lug off, just figure out which wires do what.

I'm sure there are benefits and drawbacks to both.

Most column locks that I have seen (70s and 80s cars) were clamped around the column and held together by shear-head bolts. When they are torqued, the bolt head shears off so the bolt cannot be removed. To remove the bolts, I use a hammer and a small punch to rotate the bolt until it is undone enough that I can turn it with my fingers or pliers or similar.

alan

What I did with the Merkur is put the lock pin in the unlocked position, then drilled a hole through the housing and pin, and put a cotter pin through it. Nice thing is I can remove the cotter pin and the column will lock, just a small piece of mind when leaving the car out at a rally

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tipo158
Most column locks that I have seen (70s and 80s cars) were clamped around the column and held together by shear-head bolts. When they are torqued, the bolt head shears off so the bolt cannot be removed. To remove the bolts, I use a hammer and a small punch to rotate the bolt until it is undone enough that I can turn it with my fingers or pliers or similar.

alan

I use a small cutting disc in an air grinder. Electric drill works also. Just put a small cut across the center of the bolt..instant screw. I even converted the local locksmith who had been smacking his fingers for years.

Anyone know the story behind the creation of this rule? It's relatively new.

Anders

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Grassroots rally. It's what I think about.

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Anders Green
Anyone know the story behind the creation of this rule? It's relatively new.

Anders

What's relatively new. I seem to recall that this was part of the SCCA rules at the turn of the century.

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Anders Green
Anyone know the story behind the creation of this rule? It's relatively new.

It came from Doug Robinson (when Doug was what we now call the Technical Director) or the SCCA PRB. It was one of a bunch of technical changes that Doug gave me to incorporate into the book in late summer 2004. I didn't get the rationale for changes back then.

So, if it wasn't obvious from the above, it was first published in the 2005 RA rulebook.

alan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/2011 09:45PM by tipo158.

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tipo158

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Anders Green
Anyone know the story behind the creation of this rule? It's relatively new.

It came from Doug Robinson (when Doug was what we now call the Technical Director) or the SCCA PRB. It was one of a bunch of technical changes that Doug gave me to incorporate into the book in late summer 2004. I didn't get the rationale for changes back then.

alan

My semi-edumicated guess would be that they want the lock disabled for this situation...doin' 120 plowin' over mailboxes, VVVRROOOOMMM VROOOMM, VROOOMMY VROOM VROOM! Oh, S#!t! The car's on fire, shut the ignition off! Much better. Oh s#!t, the steering's locked! Crash!

Or something like that.

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heymagic

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tipo158
Most column locks that I have seen (70s and 80s cars) were clamped around the column and held together by shear-head bolts. When they are torqued, the bolt head shears off so the bolt cannot be removed. To remove the bolts, I use a hammer and a small punch to rotate the bolt until it is undone enough that I can turn it with my fingers or pliers or similar.

I use a small cutting disc in an air grinder. Electric drill works also. Just put a small cut across the center of the bolt..instant screw. I even converted the local locksmith who had been smacking his fingers for years.

I have always done it with the dash and instrument cluster in place. Not much room to get a grinder or drill in there. But if you have the column out and have the room, yeah, turn the sheared bolt into a screw.

alan

Ok, here are some pictures...



Remove the lock cylinder and the wiring that I'm holding from the back of the ignition cylinder.



Then Remove this little guy by turning it so the notch lines up with the hole, and pushing it out...



He lives in here...




Next drill where I have two holes. This plate will come off



Once you've done that, you just hold the key release button down, and flip the ignition cylinder so that the "bridge" is pointing up. The lug should fall out of the really dark area seen in this photo. (look where the notch in the little hole is pointing, its directly to the left.)

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tipo158

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heymagic

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tipo158
Most column locks that I have seen (70s and 80s cars) were clamped around the column and held together by shear-head bolts. When they are torqued, the bolt head shears off so the bolt cannot be removed. To remove the bolts, I use a hammer and a small punch to rotate the bolt until it is undone enough that I can turn it with my fingers or pliers or similar.

I use a small cutting disc in an air grinder. Electric drill works also. Just put a small cut across the center of the bolt..instant screw. I even converted the local locksmith who had been smacking his fingers for years.

I have always done it with the dash and instrument cluster in place. Not much room to get a grinder or drill in there. But if you have the column out and have the room, yeah, turn the sheared bolt into a screw.

alan

Most Asian cars have the screws accessable by removing the lower column cover. Very esay on them, other types I know not so much about.


Thinking back I don't recall column locks ever being a concern or topic of discussion back in the day. I do remember something going wrong with Steve Roberts Mazda just before an event started. Not sure if was steering lock or ign switch. I think Dave Clark got it fixed just before FCO...seems like.

The pic Steve posted looks exactly like the setup in my Mazda, and I found that if you just remove the lock cylinder from the housing, the column lock mechanism can just fall out through the resulting hole. Then you put the lock cylinder back in and you're done.