50 Merc Trunk Lock

[Paul Bennett]

My 1950 Merc trunk latches when given a hard slam shutting of the trunk lid. That hard slam became needed when I installed new rubber weatherstrip. Although the trunk locking key turns both directions, it but will NOT prevent the trunk from opening in either ccw or cw position.

Starters to fix it, I cannot find a diagram or drawing of how the key-lock causes the trunk latch to lock/unlock.

My first 1950 Merc some 60 years back had an electrical solenoid to pop the trunk using a switch under the dash. It was placed there by master lead-smith Gene Winfield who shaved the deck lid. So I have no memory of the innards, only that it worked reliably. Nowdays I worry about getting into the trunk should the wiring go wonky.

But I'm not there right now. I just want to lock the trunk with the key. Suggestions? How do I approach this problem? First remove the half-moon shaped casting. I've had it off to replace the acrylic emblem. Remove it again and look for what?

 

[51 MERC-CT]

The lock cylinder assembly has a pin on the rear of it that rotates to a position that when locked prevents the opening lever from operating.
If the pin or any of its associated parts are broken, there will not be any ability to lock it.
Loss of electrical power to solenoid operated locks is not a problem.
It's as simple as adding a cable pull to operate the lock from a location that is accessible from outside of the trunk.

 

[Frank Miller]

I had this problem on my 49 Ford and found out that someone replaced the cylinder with the wrong pin orientation.