Hi boys, apologies for the lack of reply, spent Saturday morning, dinner, and afternoon, then Sunday morning trying various things with the lock.
Recap -
1 In spite of what you read on the internet freeing off ignition barrels DON'T tap it with a hammer to free up a slider that might have jammed! This worked once (or maybe it was coincidence) but then I realised I needed the shroud off, and so removed the key in order to remove it. From this point the mardy cow then refused to play ball because
2 End half-inch of the barrel then smashed off, and you realise just how thin the cast metal inside is, and if we remember our science classes / engineering lectures, cast metal is brittle, and low in tensile strength.
3 Then tried for
hours to free the barrel up, as did two other people. Freezing, approx -2
0C - 1.5
0C. Not exactly massive fun! All you need is for the key to turn to position 1, then ping the barrel out. Very good penetrating fluid used.
4 At 3.30pm I managed to get the barrel out. Method was I made two lock pick out of 90
0 angled wire, with a spade end ground on each. I used these to slide down either side of the barrel, pushing the sliders in, thus allowing the barrel to turn. This didn't work, immediately, however, I managed to extract a small fragment of broken metal with one of these 2-minute tools, and after trying with the key, after another 5 or 6 twists, the barrel turned!
5 Barrel out, after finding the tiny hole (only Vauxhall you need the shroud off, apparently, others you can do by feel)
6 Then... the 'bodge' / 'heath-robinson' part
Simply...
7 Walk up your drive, and go to your SORN 1996 2.5 V6 Omega CDX (I assume we all have one) after walking in 1
0C round the corner, to pinch the battery off your Turbo Weasel, in order to start the V6's engine, to turn the wheel 1/4 turn, to get to the shroud screws
8 Remove steering column shroud
9 Insert key, turn to position 1, then pinch ignition barrel
10 Nearly break back on slippery ice
11 Battery off, back to the Weasel, refit battery, ignition barrel in.
12 Back inside, extract the chip from your 1996 key, put both 1996 and 2000 FL key on the same keyring
13 Back outside, insert 1996 key into barrel, hold 2000 FL key against black plastic 'chip reader', turn key. Car starts.
14 Go to pub for Sunday lunch
Episode 3...
15 Go to scrappy with allen key in pocket, during your dinner hour on Monday to get a replacement barrel. (which is today, will let you know the progress
)