Phoenix79

Took the car to the shop and had them give me the lowdown on the condition of my 79. Exhaust Manifold gasket is leaking and I need a new ignition tumbler. I want to do the tumbler myself since they want $283 for the job. I figured it looked easy enough for a newbie like myself to tackle. Would appreciate it if someone could provide information on how to replace the tumbler and if the job could be done at the average guys garage. I really want to do the exhaust manifold leak as well but I don't think I have the expertise or the time to solve that problem. But for the sake of curiosity is it a weekend repair job to fix the leak *gasket failure*?

Jim Shea

For instructions on how to remove the ignition lock cylinder from your steering column please go to http://www.corvettefaq.com. Look under Suspension and Steering. There are descriptions on the standard (non-adjustable) as well as the T&T steering column. The written descriptions as well as the pictures to download should assist you in removing the lock cylinder. You should then be able to either replace it with a new one, or have a locksmith rebuild your original cylinder.

BTW a new lock cylinder can be purchased from your local GM dealer. The GM part number is 7830380.

Larry B.

A few days ago I began having trouble with my ignition lock jamming at times. All of my keys did the same thing. I had two original '69 keys and one duplicate. I bought a new lock from Autozone and called a locksmithe to re-key my new lock to use my original keys. Turns out that Some locks cannot be re-keyed unless they are made to do that. The locksmith looked at my keys and thought they looked pretty worn and measured them to see what they should be.. He made a new key from scratch from codes. Now my lock works perfectly and I did not have to replace the cylinder. Not a funthing to do on a Saturday morning.( Or anytime else for that matter.) So.... check your keys before assuming you need a new lock.