| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Tim R. Ovens |
Posted - 19 Oct 2011 : 01:13:53
Hello;
I'm a locksmith from Merritt, BC Canada, and have a buddy who just acquired a Sunbeam Rapier. Is there an area I can go to to find info about which key blanks they used and wheteher they have three different keys to operate the locks like the MG's I have owned in the past. I have not seen this car yet but would like to be a little prepared when I go to make keys for it. Any help would be appreciated.
Tim |
| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Fastback Thomas |
Posted - 19 Oct 2011 : 15:52:04
mine is a '68 and has 2 keys as Paul said,
one for doors and ignition
one for glovebox and boot
You can find almost any key at the rootes archive center in Banbury, UK.
As long as you have the key-number.
Paul: mine was RL and at the archive center they told me that RM was exactly the same as RM which is correct as I bought an RM as an extra RL.
Only difference between the two. My RL has a "triangular" base and the same RM has a round base...
'68 sunbeam rapier fastback {B341006846 OD/LHO}
I like a car that looks normal but really knocks your socks off!!
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| bigt80 |
Posted - 19 Oct 2011 : 15:51:17
I agree with your synopsis there Paul. All cars I've owned & they've mostly been early ones, have had keys to fit locks as you describe: when they brought the steering lock in, in c'71, with bigger ignition key they still kept a smaller key for doors & boot & glovebox . As for RL: I've believed all these years - apparently incorrectly - that it stood for "Rootes Lock". Agree blanks of RL's should be widely available at auto-jumbles. Cheers. G. |
| Paul |
Posted - 19 Oct 2011 : 11:52:38
Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe it was standard practice for Rootes cars of the '60s (and '70s?) to have one key for the door locks and ignition and a second for the boot/tailgate and glove box. The keys were standard British series such as RM, RL, FS, FP, ST, etc. etc. and the series and number should be on the barrel as well as on any existing keys. It's not uncommon to find racks of them for sale at autojumbles. You're probably already aware that RL is just a long version of RM with the same profiles for the same numbers.
If you have a gear lever or petrol cap lock (optional extras on many Rootes cars) then this would be a third key, usually from Waso.
My Alpine won't float!  I need one which does!! |
| JPSH120 |
Posted - 19 Oct 2011 : 08:36:45
Hi Tim and welcome to the forum. You haven't said what year the car is but I think you should be able to buy keys off the shelf (or rack) once you have the key number.
As for how many keys there will be, mine is a '71 and it has 3 keys for front doors and ignition whereas the 71 I just sold had 1 key for all 3!
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