1940 Ford tunk lock

C

Capuano

Member
Trunk lock cylinder turns 360 degrees but does not unlock. Can not open trunk. Should I drill out the cylinder?
 
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Is the key worn so much that it won't properly engage the tumblers?
Don't do any drilling yet.
Is there any way you can crawl into the trunk from the behind the seat
and unscrew the trunk latch and handle assembly?
 
Can you get in by going in through the back seat area? Any holes in the trunk floor you could reach up through? I don't know the condition or body style of the car.

Mart.
 
If it's a repo handle I suspect that the lock cylinder moved back towards the outer part of the handle and allowed the square locking pin to fall out of the mechanism. It's a diecast piece and it also may have broke if it's an old original. I have found that the lock moving back is a common problem with the repo handles. If you have a sedan you can get to it by pulling the back seat. If it's a coupe you will have to remove the back panel behind the front seat to get to the trunk.
 
Turn the key in the horizontal position then take a section of stiff wire bent at 90 degrees and stick it in the hole above the cylinder to depress the release pin and pull the key. The complete lock cylinder should slide out. Then you can insert a large screwdriver in the latch and give it a turn to open the trunk.
 
You could also get one or two guys to push on the bottom of the trunk under the handle
This will release some of the pressure on the lock and it may open.
 
This was on my 1940 Ford Tudor Sedan. Everything was new, latch, license plate bevel and handle. Closed the trunk. Wouldn't open. Handle would only turn 30 degrees.

Gently lifted the lower corner of the passenger side trunk lid. Pushed the gasket inside. Duct taped a 12 point 9/16 box wrench to a 1/2 in by 1/8 inch 30 inch long bar. Slid the wrench through the gap created by the gasket removal. Put the wrench on the nut holding the handle. Turning the handle 30 degrees is just the right amount to turn the nut through one twelve point notch in the wrench. Once loosened, you can spin the nut off. Remove the handle. You then have access to the square hole to turn the keeper using a screw driver. In my case I was able to access the top of the locking bar on the right hand side. There is a right angle bend. I put a wire through it and pulled it up. Trunk open.

Note the new handle and bezel combination did not allow enough rotation to unlock the trunk. I had to grind off both the handle and one stop in the bezel to get enough rotation. Lesson learned, make sure you can move the latch tab all the way into the trunk lid before closing the trunk!
 
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