Mark Kikta Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 After talking with Terry Weigand about this, I decided to post photos of the shifter lock on my 1922 Buick. I originally thought this was a standard item but it seems it is not so standard. I just wondered if any of you had seen this type of lock before. This is locked in neutral on my car so I need to get it to a locksmith before I can drive it. The ID plate shown here says Johnson Automobile Lock Co, Chicago, Ill. I found some patent information showing that Johnson first pat'd this in 1919. Any thoughts? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 I hope this goes somewhere ,we have the same issue.seems they were aftermarket.let's work together. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kikta Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 Here is a copy of some text I found from a 1917 auto trade journal magazine about the shifter. Old car fan...you have the exact same shifter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian_Heil Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 Never seen that one. 1923s had a built in lock on the base of the shifter new that year. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert_25-25 Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 Mark, Are there any numbers or letters on the lock face. Jessers Classic Keys can make you a key if you have the numbers. http://www.jessersclassickeys.com Hugh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kikta Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 Hugh, I already had some keys made from the old one that still don’t work. I should check to see if there are some numbers in all that 100 year old dirt, good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dl456 Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Mark, Mine is a 1922. A bit different than yours as it also had a locking cylinder shield with only a small round hole to insert the key. Mine also used a Yale cylinder but Johnson also used some Sargent and Briggs according to my research. They were more security conscious than you might think. The bottom pins have small rings in them making it near impossible to pick. These rings will stick In the upper chamber indicating a false shear line. With the limited visibility due to the cylinder shield, and the security pins, I finally through in the towel and drilled mine. And I don't give up easy! Before you drill, remove the shifter tower from the transmission and disassemble the forks and gate. You will see the lock rod and the bar that locks the gate. Make sure this whole assembly is free and not gummy or stuck. Even with an incorrect key , you should be able to see some slight movement in the cylinder indicating that the cylinder is not stuck. The good news is my cylinder was brass and not die cast. With the cylinder exposed like yours, It should be easily picked and a correct key made if necessary. But you can't pick a frozen cylinder. My cylinder only had a number 44 on it and my Johnson tag was half missing. Not enough for a code book. Good luck. Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Wiegand Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 I would think that the lock cylinder is secured to the housing somehow. Maybe getting the tower free from the main case and cleaned up will reveal just how it is held in place. Just my 2 cents here. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kikta Posted January 13, 2020 Author Share Posted January 13, 2020 My next step with this is to take the top plate off of the tranny and see what I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kikta Posted January 14, 2020 Author Share Posted January 14, 2020 Here are photos of the numbers on my shifter plate and lock. I removed it from the transmission and can't see much in the area of the forks. I guess I will need to take the shafts out to remove the forks and see up inside of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kikta Posted January 16, 2020 Author Share Posted January 16, 2020 So far my locksmith has had no luck picking the lock or making a key to unlock this shifter. Has anyone tried to take these forks out to get inside this shifter mechanism? It looks like this shaft going left to right may have pins holding it in place that may have to be drilled out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dl456 Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 Mark, Just replied to your PM. Let me know. Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert_25-25 Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 (edited) Mark, I sent you a note as well. This is how you remove the shifter lever from the transmission cover in 1925. In your case, I would drill out the 2 brass rivets on the name tag, and then see if you can get the cover to move up. I think you need to expose the shifting pin. Do you have a page from the book of parts that shows the shifter parts. Hugh Edited January 16, 2020 by Hubert_25-25 (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kikta Posted January 16, 2020 Author Share Posted January 16, 2020 Thanks Hugh, a lot different it seems Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kikta Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 Tonight I took my shifter apart to see if I can get closer to getting the shifter lock to work. Here you can see the shaft and forks coming out and the springs coming out also. Then I started knocking the dome cover off with a hammer and large cold chisel round the outer edge. It came off just so far and then stopped. I realized then I needed to take the cover off between the large cover and lock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kikta Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 So then I tried to knock out what I thought was a pin holding the the small cover on. Turned out to be a screw that I chiseled out because the head was ground down to look like a pin. The threads are now stripped for sure. So I pulled both covers off and removed the pin holding the shifter shaft in place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kikta Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 So then I removed the shifter shaft and pulled the shifter out of the transmission case. You can clearly see the small shaft that slides in and out of place to lock the shifter when the key is rotated. If my locksmith can’t free up the lock to rotate, I’m going to cut off the small locking piece so this can never lock again. In fact, I think I should cut that piece out even if he frees up the lock so I never have this issue again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kikta Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 Couldn’t believe it today when my locksmith called to tell me he fixed the lock on my shifter. He managed to manually make a key that unlocked the shifter. I think it’s very impressive that he could make that lock work again without destroying it. I can’t wait to put that all together again. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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