Stock Key question ? ?

[CJ2A]

I ordered stock keys for my ‘71 K20. The door key and ignition key are both square. My ‘68 Camaro has a square key for the ignition and round key for the door and trunk. The ‘68 C10 I wish I never sold had the same key set up as my Camaro.

Are the round keys a ‘68 thing ?

Or is the aftermarket dealer I am working with on keys for the ‘71 wrong ?

Thanks

[LockDoc]

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All 1968-'72 GM trucks came from the factory with the door and ignition locks keyed the same, using the "rectangular" head keys. The two key system started in 1973 with the ignition using the "rectangular" key and the doors using the "oval" key.

The 1967 trucks (and a few early '68's) had the same lock configuration (all keyed the same) but the keys were the earlier small "Octagon" head key profile. Because the face of the ignition switch was now recessed GM had a lot of complaints about the small head key being hard to turn because it didn't stick out far enough to get a hold of to turn it. That is when the longer "rectangular" head key was introduced.

The cars were completely different than the trucks.

If you have a 1967-'72 GM truck and the doors and ignition are keyed different, someone has changed one (or more) of the lock cylinders.....

LockDoc

[truckster]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

-If you have a 1967-'72 GM truck and the doors and ignition are keyed different, someone has changed one (or more) of the lock cylinders.....

LockDoc

Interesting... I thought mine had original locks, but the ignition and doors are keyed different. The key for the doors is rectangular and has semicircle cutouts on the edges.

I guess when I replace the doors on my Blazer I'll get all new locks.

[LockDoc]

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The original '67 keys (and some early '68's) would look like the first picture and the '68 -'72's would look like the 2nd picture.

LockDoc

[michael bustamante]

i gotta admit that octagon one is harder to turn but looks cooler

[dagnabbitt]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

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All 1968-'72 GM trucks came from the factory with the door and ignition locks keyed the same, using the "rectangular" head keys. The two key system started in 1973 with the ignition using the "rectangular" key and the doors using the "oval" key.0LockDoc

I had no idea that this was the case. Still learning new things on here...

Looks like I have one of the early 68's with the 67 style keys.

After buying new door locks for my 68 I found the keys under the floor mat, under the seat (everyone who just bought a truck with no keys, go out right now and take a look, it would have saved me a lot of trouble). Now that I know that the ignition is same as doors I can get them keyed the same.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by michael bustamante

i gotta admit that octagon one is harder to turn but looks cooler

You are right about that....

LockDoc

[CJ2A]

Thanks for the info Lock Doc

For a general lock & key question => In order to have one key, is it better to change my doors to match my ignition -or- change my ignition to match my doors ?

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by CJ2A

Thanks for the info Lock Doc

For a general lock & key question => In order to have one key, is it better to change my doors to match my ignition -or- change my ignition to match my doors ?

If you have keys for both it would be cheaper to change the ignition. (one lock vs two for the doors) The kicker is that the door key would have to slide into the ignition lock cylinder, or the ignition key would have to slide into the door locks to re-key the doors to match the ignition. There are 4 different key blanks that were used for the '67-'72 GM trucks depending on the year of the truck.

LockDoc