RETRO CAR QUARTER GLASS OPENING TOOL

[ranald]

i'VE BEEN CULLING ALOT LATELY & I found this tool I made for entering a friend's car after he locked the keys inside some years back.



I'm holding the heavy wire with vice grips to try to give the viewer an idea of the three dimensional perspective of the tool. It needs to be fine/flat enough to go between the glass & weather strip and shaped to enable it to twist around in order to push the locking button down with a hook to pull the lever away from the locked position.



Original story behind this:- This was a quickly made item to get my friend out of trouble: I had made a similar more professional looking one with flats peined on, in '72, after locking my keys in my fancy car in the middle of the night in an outback town with my mother & girlfriend in toe. I was punching the drivers quarter vent in order to break it ( passenger side ones were like hens teeth as thieves / thrifty folk would steal/buy from car wreckers, for the current regristration sticker thereon) when a RACQ chap challenged me about trying to illegally enter the vehicle: seing my keys in the ignition & my mum confirming my story he produced a similar item and opened the car quickly.He did not charge me as I told him I had been a member & couldn't raise help at the previous Easter long weekend.

I had a similar loop at the handle end of the original one, through which I attached the tool to the underside of the vehicle with a self tapping minus head screw. At drive-in theatres, I often had to climb under my car and unscrew the tool to help some poor sods to regain entry to their vehicle.




Cheers,
Ranald

[DIYer]

Thanks ranald! We've added your Quarter Window Tool to our Automotive category,
as well as to your builder page: ranald's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Quarter Window Tool by ranald

tags: autobody, lock pick

[blkadder]

As a driver of a '65 MGB (had it since 88) there were several times that a tool like that would have been great. I only ever seemed to lock the keys in the car when the hard top was on. Luckily my now ex (got rid of her in 95) had small hands and could squeeze in and press the door lever. I may make up one of these and stick it with the spare key that is secured under the car. Thanks for posting.

[ranald]

As a driver of a '65 MGB (had it since 88) there were several times that a tool like that would have been great. I only ever seemed to lock the keys in the car when the hard top was on. Luckily my now ex (got rid of her in 95) had small hands and could squeeze in and press the door lever. I may make up one of these and stick it with the spare key that is secured under the car. Thanks for posting.

If you can flatten out the section which presses against the lock button it wotks a lot easier as I remember, but you will tweak it to suit your MGB. I made a couple before I was really happy with the efficiency and ease of use.
Cheers

[mbshop]

Just become used to locking your door by using the key. My wife has issues so she carries a spare key in her purse. And yes, she has locked it in also. Cant win.