[revamp]

Happened to my girlfriend's car last week. Managed to get her key in and turned with some white lithium grease and some tapping. She drove it and left the key in it until the weekend when the new keyed cylinder from FORDSVTPARTS (Thanks, Steve) came in and I prepared to do battle.

Well, you have to take the key out to remove the bottom plastic shroud on the steering column. You have to remove the plastic to release the cylinder. Slid the key out, removed the shroud, slid the key back in and NO TURN.

Damn, I'm thinking, ah well I'll just fiddle with it like i did earlier in the week and get it to go. No dice. No lube, no spray, no tapping, pounding, or pleading would get the sucker to budge. After over an hour of messing with it and a couple of hours of daylight left in the day, I hauled out the drill.

I drilled a 1/8" pilot hole in the center of the cylinder to a depth of around 30mm. Then, I drilled using a 3/8" cobalt bit in 5-10mm segments to a depth of 34mm (how far the key goes in the ignition). Clean the bored hole frequently as you're drilling and test the ability to turn the ignition w/ a screwdriver. When you can turn the cylinder, you're golden.

I laid newspaper down in the footwell and had no cleanup afterwards in regards to shavings.