Discussion
)If you can get hold of a Tuscan blank and can find a key cutter able to cut such an old key (many no longer have the machine to do it) then you end up with a much nicer key and as an added bonus you can put the insides of your Meta alarm fob in it to end up with the aforementioned key conversion with less hassle.
See this thread:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=320...
See this thread:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=320...
Edited by JonRB on Saturday 22 September 10:10
I had this problem too and one of my keys had a crack in the plastic so I did the following:
- cut plastic bit off key
- put a big lump of liquid metal onto the end of the key (the putty stuff which turns hard as steel supposedly)
- once the putty had set into a fairly large lump, I took a file to the top and bottom to get it to the right thickness and flat.
- then drew out a shape in pencil (I went for a sort of streched heptagon), drilled a hole for the keyring and filed down to the pencil line.
- got some sandpaper and rounded off all the edges until it had the right look.
- went over with some very fine wet/dry paper to make it super smooth.
- sprayed with plastic primer, then colour matched body colour, then lots of laquer all from Halfords
Thats about it! I did it while waiting in the fitting bay for my friend to finish work at Halfords and the longest part was waiting for the paint layers to dry... Very easy to do and the key looks a hundred times better and has held up very well for the last 8 months aside from a couple of chips in the paint from dropping it a few times. I would put a picture up but i'm not at home at the moment and don't have a way of getting it onto the computer but it does look good I promise!
- cut plastic bit off key
- put a big lump of liquid metal onto the end of the key (the putty stuff which turns hard as steel supposedly)
- once the putty had set into a fairly large lump, I took a file to the top and bottom to get it to the right thickness and flat.
- then drew out a shape in pencil (I went for a sort of streched heptagon), drilled a hole for the keyring and filed down to the pencil line.
- got some sandpaper and rounded off all the edges until it had the right look.
- went over with some very fine wet/dry paper to make it super smooth.
- sprayed with plastic primer, then colour matched body colour, then lots of laquer all from Halfords
Thats about it! I did it while waiting in the fitting bay for my friend to finish work at Halfords and the longest part was waiting for the paint layers to dry... Very easy to do and the key looks a hundred times better and has held up very well for the last 8 months aside from a couple of chips in the paint from dropping it a few times. I would put a picture up but i'm not at home at the moment and don't have a way of getting it onto the computer but it does look good I promise!
That looks good - Much prefer to have one where you can fold away the key part to avoid stabbing a hole in your pocket/leg! when you sit down.
Could they easily cut the key into the blank you used?
I know someone at a company that make key blanks so could have a word - not sure if they do car keys, but may be worth asking. Have a feeling they could end up being pricey though as those modern keys are expensive to replace!
Could they easily cut the key into the blank you used?
I know someone at a company that make key blanks so could have a word - not sure if they do car keys, but may be worth asking. Have a feeling they could end up being pricey though as those modern keys are expensive to replace!
The flip key blank is from a Holden VE Commodore, pretty easy to source over here in Australia.
You might be able to get one the same for the Vauxhall VXR in the UK.
The blank is 1mm wider than the Chim key so needs to be trimmed down before the key is cut, or you could do what i did and just swap the blades over.
The inside of the electronic part has been hollowed out and the board replaced with the board from my old Cobra alarm fob. Only issue is that the buttons don't match up so the button marked for boot opening is actually the lock/unlock botton.
Pretty happy with how it turned out, will probably do my spare key the same at some stage.
You might be able to get one the same for the Vauxhall VXR in the UK.
The blank is 1mm wider than the Chim key so needs to be trimmed down before the key is cut, or you could do what i did and just swap the blades over.
The inside of the electronic part has been hollowed out and the board replaced with the board from my old Cobra alarm fob. Only issue is that the buttons don't match up so the button marked for boot opening is actually the lock/unlock botton.
Pretty happy with how it turned out, will probably do my spare key the same at some stage.
AlRaven said:
Yeah, that's more like it! how though - do I need an alarm guy to do this?
Dunno whether you have to, but Carl Baker did a cracking job of mine.ETA picture:
Edited by LordGrover on Thursday 27th September 08:10
ariddell said:
The blank is 1mm wider than the Chim key so needs to be trimmed down before the key is cut, or you could do what i did and just swap the blades over.
Question! how did you change the blades over? With flip keys the metal key is a one piece construction that folds round onto the plastic fob, how did you swap it out with your Chim key?Cheers
On the Holden flip key the blade is a seperate part mounted into a swiveling metal base and locked in place with a groove and pin.
This made it pretty easy to remove the pin by hammering it out, remove the old blade, and then shape the end of the Chim blade once removed from its old plastic cover to match. Took a little bit of time with the trusty Dremmel but the key metal is soft enough for it not to be too much of an ordeal.
This made it pretty easy to remove the pin by hammering it out, remove the old blade, and then shape the end of the Chim blade once removed from its old plastic cover to match. Took a little bit of time with the trusty Dremmel but the key metal is soft enough for it not to be too much of an ordeal.
ariddell said:
On the Holden flip key the blade is a seperate part mounted into a swiveling metal base and locked in place with a groove and pin.
This made it pretty easy to remove the pin by hammering it out, remove the old blade, and then shape the end of the Chim blade once removed from its old plastic cover to match. Took a little bit of time with the trusty Dremmel but the key metal is soft enough for it not to be too much of an ordeal.
Ditto Audi key.This made it pretty easy to remove the pin by hammering it out, remove the old blade, and then shape the end of the Chim blade once removed from its old plastic cover to match. Took a little bit of time with the trusty Dremmel but the key metal is soft enough for it not to be too much of an ordeal.
ariddell said:
On the Holden flip key the blade is a seperate part mounted into a swiveling metal base and locked in place with a groove and pin.
This made it pretty easy to remove the pin by hammering it out, remove the old blade, and then shape the end of the Chim blade once removed from its old plastic cover to match. Took a little bit of time with the trusty Dremmel but the key metal is soft enough for it not to be too much of an ordeal.
Most helpful This made it pretty easy to remove the pin by hammering it out, remove the old blade, and then shape the end of the Chim blade once removed from its old plastic cover to match. Took a little bit of time with the trusty Dremmel but the key metal is soft enough for it not to be too much of an ordeal.
Cheers
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