Shaved trunk lock... ist it a pita not having a key?

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Shaved trunk lock... ist it a pita not having a key?

January 06, 2012, 01:39:00 AM

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)

Shaved trunk lock... ist it a pita not having a key?

Reply #1 – January 06, 2012, 02:16:56 AM

I was thinking of shaving the door handles off mine when doing the repaint, Could always move the buttons to the console though.

Shaved trunk lock... ist it a pita not having a key?

Reply #2 – January 06, 2012, 02:45:25 AM

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.

Shaved trunk lock... ist it a pita not having a key?

Reply #3 – January 06, 2012, 02:58:12 AM

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?

Shaved trunk lock... ist it a pita not having a key?

Reply #4 – January 06, 2012, 04:29:23 AM

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.

Shaved trunk lock... ist it a pita not having a key?

Reply #5 – January 06, 2012, 04:34:01 AM

Interesting point, but that's not something I would have to worry about with my car;)

Shaved trunk lock... ist it a pita not having a key?

Reply #6 – January 06, 2012, 04:38:13 AM

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.

Shaved trunk lock... ist it a pita not having a key?

Reply #7 – January 06, 2012, 07:40:01 AM

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

Shaved trunk lock... ist it a pita not having a key?

Reply #8 – January 06, 2012, 11:32:34 AM

Quote from: Shadow;377122

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....

Shaved trunk lock... ist it a pita not having a key?

Reply #9 – January 06, 2012, 12:03:18 PM

Quote from: sarjxxx;377098

Does anyone have any opinions on this?

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

Shaved trunk lock... ist it a pita not having a key?

Reply #10 – January 06, 2012, 12:07:00 PM

Quote from: T-BirdX3;377131

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

Shaved trunk lock... ist it a pita not having a key?

Reply #11 – January 06, 2012, 05:02:57 PM

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

Shaved trunk lock... ist it a pita not having a key?

Reply #12 – January 06, 2012, 05:36:12 PM

Quote from: daminc;377138

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.

Shaved trunk lock... ist it a pita not having a key?

Reply #13 – January 06, 2012, 05:59:04 PM

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.

Shaved trunk lock... ist it a pita not having a key?

Reply #14 – January 06, 2012, 07:35:04 PM

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.