I'm considering deleting the trunk lock and I was wondering if anyone here who drives their car at least on a semi regular basis has done it. I would love to just take my trunk key off the ring for a while to see how it feels but I don't actually drive the car so it wouldn't help me.
My 96 did not have a trunk key for a long time but that wasn't so bad b/c the popper button was in the console, not the glovebox, so it was a lot easier to just reach in from EITHER side of the car, and pop the trunk open. With this car it makes me wonder if I would get tired of having to always walk around to the PS and open the glovebox to get at the button.
Does anyone have any opinions on this? (not the aesthetic aspect please lol)
I was thinking of shaving the door handles off mine when doing the repaint, Could always move the buttons to the console though.
I was kinda considering moving the button. Putting it in place of that bug ugly light inside there. On a side note, I don't trust that light. Has anyone ever noticed how hot that SOB gets? I almost set my carpet on fire with it when I was working on my console.
As for door handles, I don't think I could ever do that lol.
Yeah since my car was going to be a DD i couldn't do that, also what about the car alarms that have a trunk pop?
I wouldn't do it incase you run out of gas or something. Say you leave your lights on while you walj for a gas can, then you wouldn't be able to pop the gas cap to put gas in.
Interesting point, but that's not something I would have to worry about with my car;)
(http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n567/sarjxxx/2011-05-18201904.jpg)
Hmm, good point. I keep forgetting that not all cars had that stupid gas lid popper thingy. I almost always forgot to pop it when I went for gas.
I wouldn't do it, but I am parinoid about locking myself out, and I have almost always had a job where I carried tools in the back of my car everyday. I would rid up an in-car trunk release cable just in case.
my dad did it to his cutlass and it turned out to be more of a PITA than it's worth.. like haystack said, if the battery dies, you're SOL for getting into the trunk for any reason (like if you need your jumper cables out of the trunk.. the only way i could see it working out in the long run, is if you use a cable and latch for such emergencies.. or do away with the electric popper and just mount the cable as your primary way of getting into the trunk.. much like some cars have on the floor, right next to the driver seat..
but more direct to your question.. i don't have the key for any of my TC's trunks, it's a real PITA to have to stick the key in the ignition, open the glovebox and push the button every time i need to get into the trunk of any of the 3 cars
Well yeah that would suck but the way mine is done is that I don't have to turn the ignition to get it to pop open. My car didn't have a trunk popper thingy in it originally so I had to install one. I didn't think about wiring it up to only work with the key, I just wanted the thing to work so I just installed it to 12v+ line. No doubt it would definitely drive me crazy if I had to turn the key over every time. I understand that completely.
Also on the deal with the hard cable, I have been considering that. Kinda thinking doing something like splicing a wire into the 12v+ line past the popper switch to hide and cap underneath the car somewhere so that all you'd need to do is touch it with the 12V+ jumper cable and ground the other one, and blammo its open. I've also been considering that maybe I would keep cables somewhere besides the trunk so that I wouldn't have to get into it to get them.
And then there's the fact that I'm considering eventually moving the battery to the trunk... That could be a whole different ballgame.... Oh and here's a slightly related question, if you do a trunk battery swap, is it possible to put a post terminal of some sort in the engine bay so that you can jump your battery without having to get into the trunk? I think Cadillac's have some sort of thing like that due to the fact that the battery is under the backseat but I could be wrong. But that's something I have been thinking about regardless of whether or not I do the lock thing....
Of course it is going to be PITA. The only way it wouldn't be is if you had a remote for it, but that is even larger than just a trunk key. If you just don't want to carry a trunk key then take it off your key ring and leave it in the console, problem solved. :D
haha that's funny. I wasn't implying that I don't want to carry a trunk key lol. I was just saying that would be a good way for me to get a feel of what its like if I didn't have a lock on the trunk, because I wouldn't be able to use my key to open it;) Only thing is that it wouldn't really work for me b/c my car isn't quite back on the road yet so I wouldn't get a proper feel for it. I'm actually just wanting to remove my trunk lock cause I've got something I want to put in its place:D
I have never ever used a trunk key for my Lincoln. Going on 4 or 5 years now... I just realized a few months back, that there actually is a place for a key back there.
Go figure....... lol
Same with my 01 Grand Marquis. I have never opened the trunk with the key in 10½ years.
We just shaved the trunk key and antenna on my friends Maxima. It looks nice and its not a problem because the release is on the driver door and on the remote. I wouldn't do it to the thunderbird, although it does look nice. I use my trunk key all the time on the thunderbird. I dont like going in the car to open the trunk.
When redoing my car back in '01, it was on the drawing board to shave the trunk lock.
It's still on the car.
Bottom line: do NOT trust the trunk lock solenoids on these cars. Ever. Because they will screw you over eventually. And one time is one time too many.
Always have a cable backup. Hide it somewhere but make sure you have one in the car.
I think the T-Birds look better with a shaved trunk lock than the Cougars, IMHO.
BTW, shaved handles and locks are the bomb on a convertible. Heh. ;)
well you cheated by putting it on a constant 12v source than lol but like eric said, when the truck solenoid lets you down, you'll be kicking yourself, unless you put a manual release cable on it..
as for the battery post under the hood with the battery in the trunk, you could get away with that very easily.. some cars (like buicks) that had the battery elsewhere, had a 'jumper' post under the hood, with a nice little plastic cap to keep it covered.. you may be able to use 1 of those, as i'm not exactly sure how they're set up.. and what i mean by that is, i don't know if the wire is fixed to the jumper post, if it bolts on much like the solenoids on our cars or how long/thick the cable is.. it's definitely something worth looking into
Have a battery cutout installed at the rear of the vehicle, incase the starter solinoid gets stuck on amd you can't pop your hood or trunk.
If you have keyless entry, you can use it to pop your trunk. That's what I normally do if I'm outside of the car.
ok.... I'll spill the beans. I stated before that the reason I was wondering was not because I actually want to shave my lock, but because I have something to put in its place... Well I figured out a way to install it so that I would not need a release cable, but so that if the solenoid did indeed fail, all I would need is a phillips and a straight blade screwdriver and I can turn the lock myself. Which I always keep accessible in my car at all times btw.
anyway, here is my "big idea".....you guys are probably gonna hate it (especially vinnie lol)
(http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n567/sarjxxx/2012-01-08150707-1.jpg)
(http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n567/sarjxxx/2012-01-08150651-1.jpg)
(http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n567/sarjxxx/2012-01-08150724.jpg)
I kind of like it. It's clever, and not too over the top.
meh.. in my opinion, adding extra make/model badges to a car is like having shag with your neighbor's wife.. you just shouldn't do it.. but it's your car.. lol
i say just shave it or leave the lock cylinder in there, but that's just me
Cool. I though it was pretty clever myself too. It actually is part of the chrome piece that is bolted to the back of 99 and up (I think) sables. I originally had a plan a few years ago to install the whole entire chrome piece but that didn't work out AT ALL. But for some reason I kept the stupid thing and I was looking at it the other day and realized the logo was not a permanent part of it. So I pried it out and found out that it fit PERFTCTLY in the spot where the lock was at. I figure I will maybe try this for a while, and if not then I can reinstall my lock later if I so choose.
See that's the thing though, I am of the opposite opinion. I agree that at a point it does go overboard, but I think if you can do it better than the original then it should be done. And for me, when I see cars that have removed all the logos and badges and whatever, I just plain don't like it. I like to have my brand/model blasting out on the car so that I can be proud of it. Now if I was driving a Camry or Civic or something, then yeah I can see why one would want to remove those badges. :giggle:
:cool:
If you saw my neighbor's wife, u would realize that statement is just gross! Small touches like that add class.
i'm the complete and total opposite.. nothing i own has a single badge of any kind on it, except the birds because i can't get the emblems off the tail light lenses without breaking them.. i like my stuff clean, which means zero badging.. if someone doesn't know what it is, it sucks for them lol
that makes it even more wrong LOL
"small touches" was not referring to her! lol
LOL i was talking about her gross-ness
Not a bad idea. Maybe you could find a bigger emblem and mount it to a flip-up door over the lock (Lincoln style).
(IMO that three-slash Mercury logo is up there with the worst car logos of all time).
Yeah I thought about that before but then I realized that would just be waaaaay overkill on the trunk. The ONLY reason I wanted to use this one was b/c it fit so nicely there in the existing hole and more or less looks like it belongs there.
Well IMO its one of the best of all time ;)
I actually like it, looks better than the lock hanging out. Good idea.
cool thanks:)
Put a locking gas door on the car, Then rig some kind of release in the gas cap area. :cool:
D'oh double post...
Side note: The above post might just work...
that's an idea.. but if it's like any of my TC's, the stupid button in the glove box doesn't do squat and you have to open the gas door with the cable that's in the trunk.. talk about a double kick in the nuts.. LOL
Put one of these on:
(http://images.stylintrucks.com/product_images/350x350/all_sales/LockingBilletGasDoor_2944.jpg?)
^ :nono: :punchballs:
mine is filled in with no problems. I am gonna put in a spring loaded license plate holder which is gonna hide the filler for the fuel cell and the battery cut off switch.
x2..... all I have to say about that fuel door is YUCK!