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Remove Key

To: <mgs@Autox.Team.Net>
Subject: Remove Key
From: John Fisher <jfisher@alabama.com>
Date: Tue, 27 May 97 11:06:36 -0500
Note: if you remove the remainder of the key and don't have a spare, 
you'll be worse off than when you began (at least you can start the car 
now).

To remove the partial key, start with a fish hook. Straighten the hook, 
but bend the eye of the hook in the same direction as the barb so that 
you'll know which direction the barb is facing when you get it inserted 
into the keyway. You may want to slightly dull the tip of the hook, so 
that you don't hang it up on a tumbler when you insert it.

Once ready, insert the straightened fish hook into the top or bottom of 
the keyway so that the barb is facing towards the center if the keyway. 
Advance the hook until the the tip passes between the edge of the broken 
section of key and the tumbler, and the barb is oriented so it will grip 
the remainder of the key as it is extracted. Continue to advance the 
straightened hook until it's passed most (or all) of the broken-off 
section.

Extract the fish hook and (hopefully) the remainder of the broken key. 
This is best done with a brisk (but not forceful enough to break the fish 
hook) jerk. If you get stuck, you should be able to (adroitly) maneuver 
the fish hook so that the barb is parallel to the keyway, and remove it. 
Wiggling the hook slightly will facilitate removal.

Repeat as necessary until the broken key is removed.

That's how I learned to do it during my misbegotten youth as a 
counterintelligence agent in the army circa 1968-71 (no oxymoron comments 
please).


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