trunk lock

Im planning on shaving my trunk lid but im not sure how to remove the kev lock. Any help would be greatly appriciated

Here are the instructions. If you need the picture that goes with it, let me know and I'll try to get it up for you.

 1. Drill out the rivet (6) from the lock cylinder retainer (5).
 2. Remove the lock cylinder retainer (5) by rocking forward while pulling down and out of the rear compartment lid (1).
 3. Remove the lock cylinder retainer gasket (4).
 4. Inspect the lock cylinder retainer gasket (4).
Replace the gasket if damage is evident.

 5. Disconnect the electrical connector (7) from the lock cylinder (2).
 6. Remove the lock cylinder (2) from the vehicle.

Wow ok thanks

Has anyone already shaved theirs so i can see what it looks like

That certainly is the correct way to do it, but just as an aside observation: The lock on these is held on to the trunk lip so poorly, it comes right off with the slightest pry under the bezel. I've had to now break into 4-5 Riviera trunks at salvage yards and the darned thing pops right off and pulls out with almost no effort. It really is laughable from a "security" standpoint.

The interior mechanism seems to be generally fine after pyring it off, but I'm sure something gets broken in the process (I didn't really care, so I didn't look closely). But at that point you can open it with a long small flat screwdriver. It does pucker out the rivet holes just a bit, but if you are already going to have to do some body work to fill and clean up the hole  

But again, just a funny observation. If you can remove it without additional damage, I certainly recommend that route


One caveat in general to shaving off the lock, if you remove the outside lock, there really isn't any other way to get into the trunk if you lose power, or there is some failure in the switch, harness or the lock solenoid.

So if you shave it off, you might also consider adding an emergency pull cable and route it somewhere in the car or hidden under the car. I doubt it would be very difficult to rig a cable to the lock mechanism.

I honestly like the "R" on the rear, especially since the rear is already so clean and simple. It's a pretty classy piece. But, good luck!

Al

I have mine shaved and love the look. You can see it in my sig but theres better pics in my showroom.

th3fr4nchi5e wrote:

I have mine shaved and love the look. You can see it in my sig but theres better pics in my showroom.

Do you have a "backup plan" way to open the trunk if the power or solenoid fails, such as a remote cable, or?

If so, curious to hear how you've set it up so others looking at this modification would know their options and your lessons learned.

Al

Well, its been about 4 years since we did the mod and no problems with the automatic release so we havent really been too concerned about it. I recently talked about putting in a manual release like the gas door has but decided against it for my car. The manual release would mean needing to run a cable or wire of some sort off of the decklid and I think that would take away from how clean the trunk area looks. Could probably hide it with the trunk light wiring but I dont think its necessary for my car. I dont use the Riv to carry things often so for me, if anything were to happen, it wouldnt be too much of a pain or too urgent to remove the back seat! 99% of the time, its just my sound system in the trunk!

OK

...however, problem is, you can't really get into the trunk via the back seat, unless you are a REALLY slim person or cut out the cross-braces and insulation behind the seat.

Im pretty slim and I agree it would still be quite the burden to get through those cross braces! I think Id probably just take a long extension and remove the four 10mm (I think thats what holds it) that hold the latch to the decklid!

i seem to remember a trunk latch pull handle inside my trunk couldnt that just be rerouted under the seat?

There's a fuel door pull, but mine doesn't have a trunk latch pull. I think you can manually unhook the latch from inside - a screw driver and flashlight would make the process much easier.

joshuadalegrimes wrote:

i seem to remember a trunk latch pull handle inside my trunk couldnt that just be rerouted under the seat?

The only cable pull in the trunk that I am aware of is for the fuel door release (which I have had to use when my electric release was stuck from years of little use).

Since the electric mechanism for the trunk is on the lid, rigging up an emergency cable pull might be tricky to route, etc. But I'm sure it could be done with a bicycle brake/derallieur cable for example.