Drop down rear seat , how to open the trunk?

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Cuda Hunter

Cuda Hunter

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I have a duster with a drop down rear seat. I don't have a key for the trunk and would like to get into the trunk without damaging the drop down seat parts.
I was told there is a security lock that you have to unlatch from the trunk side to get the wood panel to fold down.
Anyone have a picture of this lock so I can manipulate it from the backside?

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I went out to mine and took pictures but my patch cord is at work.
Anyway if you lay on the back of the back seat and look up at the top of the security panel, you will see a 2 or 3 inch steel plate that is attached to the body just behind the trunk lid torsion bars.That is what the locks latch into. If you take a thin screwdriver, you might be able to slide it over the top of the panel and force the latches on the other side down.They are old timey wedge latches.
Once you are into the trunk, you can manually open the trunk.
I will check this post in the morning and post pictures.
 
Thanks Dave, I will try that when I get home this evening.
Hopefully I can pick the latch and make it work.


Off to work, 0 degrees, 15" of snow, building houses outside in the rockies.
 
Off to work, 0 degrees, 15" of snow, building houses outside in the rockies.[/quote]
you are a tuff man to work in that kind of weather:angry7: that would kill me.
 
if all else fails, find a good old timer thats been a locksmith for years.. he should be able to pick it, or bump the lock open with out hurting it.
 
godfatherofchry said:
Off to work, 0 degrees, 15" of snow, building houses outside in the rockies.
Click to expand...
you are a tuff man to work in that kind of weather:angry7: that would kill me.[/QUOTE]

This probably won't make ya feel any better but in acouple hours I have to install a lock in an outside door.Windchill is -34c ,not fun.
 
Cuda Hunter said:
Thanks Dave, I will try that when I get home this evening.
Hopefully I can pick the latch and make it work.


Off to work, 0 degrees, 15" of snow, building houses outside in the rockies.
Click to expand...

If you have a locking glove box a locksmith can make you a key for your trunk from the glovebox lock,as long as the trunk lock has not been changed.8)
 
This is what you will find on the trunk side..........

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If that doesn not work, you can always take the car to a locksmith and have them pick it and make you a key.
 
thanks for the pic. That looks like I can pick that. Not too difficult of a latch. Just didn't know what I was working with.
Hey, after working all day, it warmed up to 9degrees f.
Now -34 degrees C is just ridiculous. I would probably call it quits at that point. I will usually work to about -20 degrees F. Sometimes windchill down to -30 degrees but that is it.
I figure since I hunt in all this weather, why not work in it too.

Thanks again guys.
 
after snow shoveling both my driveways and uncovering cars from snow I went in and tried to unlatch the panel. I couldn't get it for the life of me.
Probably just tired and late in the evening. This evening I will try again.
Looks extremely simple. I can't believe I had such a hard time with that latch!!
 
You might want to try a hacksaw blade if the screwdriver doesn't work. They are a bit more flexible but real strong. Just tape up the end were your hands are as they are tuff on skin.
 
I got into the trunk. Thanks for the pics and advice.
Tried all sorts of tools but in the end it was the hacksaw blade that did the trick.
Nothing in the trunk aside from junk and a new air filter.
The oil filter had a little rust inside so I threw it out.
Virtually no rust.
I posted a pic of the trunk over on my other thread in the restorations section.
 
I'm glad you got into your trunk without damaging anything. For future reference to others who may not be so lucky, I've a few other methods I've had to use over the years as a wrecking yard owner. We often don't get keys with the cars we buy so we have to be creative sometimes. I have a huge ring of extra keys I try first but sometimes you stike out. On the fold-down rear seat cars if I can't get a key to work, I try the screw driver pry-down/hacksaw blade method on the panel. If that doesn't work, I pop out the rear spare well drain plug and many times there is no spare or at least it isn't anchored down so you can use either a long extension and a wobbly socket on the latch or a coat hanger hook on the security panel latch. If the spare is held down tight, I usually just drill the trunk lock cylinder. They're cheap to replace so I don't lose any sleep over it.
Thanks, Mark
 
Good idea with the plug in the bottom. I didn't even consider that.
For trunk keys on an old mopar, I was told that there are six different keys that they were made with so the lock smith can hook me up with six different keys and he guarantees that one of the keys will work for the trunk. I have to have the locking tumbler assembly in the glove box though.
 
Cuda Hunter said:
Good idea with the plug in the bottom. I didn't even consider that.
For trunk keys on an old mopar, I was told that there are six different keys that they were made with so the lock smith can hook me up with six different keys and he guarantees that one of the keys will work for the trunk. I have to have the locking tumbler assembly in the glove box though.
Click to expand...
There are over 700 possible combinations of key codes for that trunk lock but usually something close will allow you to "jimmy" it open. The glove box lock only uses 3 of the 5 tumbler combinations on the trunk key. The main question is: Why would you lock the glove box on a classic car anyway?? If someone goes to the trouble of breaking in your car, do you really think a locked glove box lock will stop them? They'll just break into that also, probably doing a bunch of damage to the dash and surrounding areas. My advice... don't keep anything of value in one and leave it unlocked.
Thanks, Mark
 
Unfortunately the glove box is not a locking knob.
I got the trunk open so now I just have to take out the trunk lock and have it keyed.
It would really suck to have your dash all torn up over something small that would fit in the glove box.
I am not surprised there are many keys made. I wondered if 6 keys would actually make the lock work. Probably not.
 
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