You don't have to remove the facecap on GM 6 cuts to make a key for them, in fact it's faster not to. A few rules apply with them, no more than 3 difference in adjacent cuts, there will never be more than 3 of the same cut in a row, and if you add up all the cuts together they will always equal an even number. On the door locks you drill a small hole such as 1/8" right on top of the sidebar, then I use a giveaway keyring that has the end bent out around my finger and while holding it I apply sidebar pressure with the giveaway keyring from the hand holding the lock, then a rake them with a double half ball pick or whatever your preference is, and once the sidebar drops you can turn the lock until the spring cap is under the drain slot. Then you take a worn hook pick and rock it into the slots and determine the cuts, you can use the shim type GM readers too but I find it faster to just use a pick, it's easy enough to eyball a 1 and a 5 and 2 3 and 4 will be easy to determine by how far the hook of your pick goes into the hole next to the spring cap cover. If you can only get the first 4 or so then it's simple enough to progression knowing they will always add up even and never have more than 3 in a row, and that the MACS is 3. This technique is also useful for trunk locks and other GM locks that the plug won't come out of the housing until it's rotated, if you got a glovebox lock even better, they have the first or last 4 cuts and the numbers are stamped right on the plugs. Also this system was in use by GM from 1934-1994 with the addition of one part, a 5 cut wafer sometime in the mid 70's. Those cars that use 6 cut VATS in 1994 and after will always (if factory lock) have the numbers stamped on them and you can use a cell phone camera set to macro mode with the light turned on in video mode to drop the wafers one at a time. Before reading ignitions that way I always use CRC QD contact cleaner and it does a nice job of removing crap from the lock and leaving a nice dry lock so you can see the numbers stamped in the wafers. If your customer has a beater and is in a hurry you can also take a 3/32nd drill bit and drill the height of a 1 cut from the base of the blade to the side of the lock and that will put you right on top of the side bar and you can put a slightly bent piece of wire and apply sidebar tension by twisting said wire once inserted, then you can pick the lock and apply strong tension once picked and the wafers will better line up into their exact positions as opposed to when you pick them with rocker picks and rely on the turned lock to hold the sidebar down they sometimes tend to have a little slop in them as the slot the sidebar drops into on them tends to become a wider and wider V shape and won't always read properly though the keyway unless you press the sidebar down into the center of that V. For the shop I used to work for that was the only way they allowed us to drill a trunk lock one one of those locks and with a little practice they are super easy, and there are sooooooo many 6 cut cars still out there it's not even funny, every single one has razor sharp door panel cutouts and we used to joke that it was someone's job to sharpen the edges with a file as part of the production line.. which probably isn't far from the truth as badly as they can cut you, if you do have to yank one out I take a piece of tubing and slice it down the length, then put it around the hole you are reaching through so you don't rip your skin off when trying to get those lock clips off and it finally comes free and sends your arm flying against the sharp door edge. Those GM 6 cuts are the bread and butter of the industry because nobody wants to work on them anymore, but they are very well designed and functioning locks and very secure compared to most others, very few cars have sidebar door locks let alone every lock but the glovebox lock. Another thing is those 6 cut locks were made in such huge numbers by briggs and stratton (now strattec) that they are still used on some heavy trucks and equipment through today. Most locksmiths will run away in terror from them when they are such easy money if you learn a thing or two about them.
@@pjdambra I wouldn't say it's a lost art, it's just that locksmithing is a trade job, which for the last couple decades public schools have been shunnnig as menial pointless work, they teach today that you need a very expensive pointless degree so the state can make money. As such, and the millennials feel they should get paid to do nothing if business is slow, they don't want to actually put in the work. It's really just changing culture in the USA. Fact is, there is a lot of need for this, but people pay 3-5 times as much to swap out the locks as it costs a locksmith to just do the job properly as B&S designed the locks to be extremely serviceable, durable, and reliable. There are very few automotive locks nowadays that I can tell are good just by a simple look, but these ones I can and unless the wafers are all chewed up and I see springs coming off the wafers through the keyway I know it's 99% likely to work with no more than a little squirt of locksmith cologne aka WD-40. Are you a locksmith? and is this something you are interested in? I might make a video if there is interest in it. I have some footage using my cell phone camera to take macro video of the numbers inside these ignitions if it's something that people want to watch. I really need to get up to 1000 subscribers, I used to make a couple bux on youtube a month and it was kinda nice to cash it out ever couple months but nowadays there is not much to incentivate me to make videos unless it's something people are intersted in and for youtube it seems they only give search results to those who are copycating other peoples videos, and GM 6 cuts are something that I really don't see a lot of interest in but there may be a niche audience for it. It seems that the only locksmithing videos that are popular are "locksmiths" that show bypasses that they really shouldn't talk about to laypeople and that's something I won't do.
I have a curtis it's old like 1st gen I lost all my carriages still have the GM carriage Just eyeball the depths. I used to do all the time on first key. still use clipper to cut 5 cut 1st cut
I made my own decoder for these. Basically a set of paperclips, bent to a 90° angle. I cut down the small side so that the bend is flush with the core when the small end is on the wafer. One of these for each cut depth. Works well enough;
Wolf that’s a good trick! As I was learning to sight decode I would use the broken pick in the same way. Thinking back I think I definitely had a ground down pick with little hash lines scratched into it :)
Correct, except for police cars in my experience which here in florida at least all tend to have the GM A keyway and some of them are actually keyed up to an odd key code, but that might be a regional thing. Also you will never have more than 3 cuts in a row and never more than 3 difference in adjacent cuts. ALso when reading the keys by eye the notch before the first cut is at exactly a #2 depth, so when you progression them with a file this makes getting your increment just right, if your file with constant presssure takes 5 cuts to get to a 2 it will take 10 to go to a three, 15 to go to 4 and 20 to go to 5. I used to work for a shop and they didn't want to order facecaps so we had to work around them or re-use them. With GM 6 cuts you can drill a hole in the side over the sidebar, and pick the sidebar down, rotate, and then you will be able to read the cuts through the spring cap through the drain slot in the bottom.
Hi there, Great instructional video. Thanks for doing this. My husband found a Model 14 online and we have received it. What is the name of the depth measure tool? We would like to purchase one. Do you have a soft copy of the user manual? Thank you, Diane
rwdplz1 mmm no video but I’ve done my fair share of them, it’s not really advised considering they were always fairly cheap to replace HOWEVER that is definitely changing as the years go by and certain ignitions are getting harder to come by, also you have to now factor in the “all original” historical car guys who want it the same. The retaining ring on the back is the worst part for sure. One day I’ll likely have the opportunity to do a video on one but for the most part it was always “replace” cause if you pull one with no code then it has been replaced before anyway. Have a great one
@@selock I just take a cheap spring loaded center punch that I ground off to a flat tip, then I clicka clicka clicka on the casting to drive that retainer out, pull it the rest of the way with vise grips, then wiggle the part that engates the sector gear off with a flatblade screwdriver.
The Mighty Gator Tool. Pop the cap, pop the wafers, reset/ replace the wafers, reset a new cap, your done. What a fantastic tool. Do they even make that thing anymore ??
King Street Rob they probably do, but the few times I’ve seen it in use it requires a pretty careful hand. Since the SOP for GM6 is this, I can only recall one old car it would have been handy on but otherwise that little $150 sucker ain’t worth it. Also, it helps I’ve always had a entire drawer dedicated to face cap kits anyway ;)
@@selock I used to see it in locksmithing magazines all the time. That's the only reason I even know what it is. I thought the pliers you have may have been a gator but you corrected me on that already. I've never found a person or actually seen one of those things.
King Street Rob they used to talk about it on the old internet locksmith forum back 2000 or so (when it came out, as you know it was “the cool new tool to get”) and I remember seeing some pics of a not so great looking cap pull. It made sense cause of just how well crimped some of these are
@@selock I used to see the ad in magazines such as locksmith ledger etc. Was never on a computer back in 2000. I was one of those people that believed it would never last. "That's crazy, a box that can show you pictures and give you information" It will never last...Now people are watching porn on the bus going to work. Who knew ??
I have a couple questions, but I will limit myself to one; My parts catalogs do not show different uncoded door locks for different key types - what makes locks work with specific key types? Do the keyways play role here?
@@selock first, thanks for the reply. I am looking in decades old parts books, and the uncoded locks are not appearing to be key type dependant; I know that GM typically used a four year cycle, so in the case of my car being a 1970, the same key types were also used in 1974, and I believe again in 1978. I am hoping to purchase some old stock lock cylinders and code them for my car - I want to be sure I buy the right stuff.
Jason, in the early days of locksmith training (early 1980's) I learned about the Briggs & Stratton side bar wafer lock. Does GM still use them in their ignitions?
Wayne Grant the theory of theirs has been adapted through the years, the GM10 just had a longer one. They still make freightliners and other oddball things with them though!
That’s a real lost art. My new car doesn’t have any keys at all. All totally electronic. I have tons of old car key blanks if anyone is interested. I rarely ever do any cars anymore. Just do property management stuff now. Retired.
Hi Jason. Thanks for taking the time to do this video. At what age does a lock become an antique ? That's a good bit of kit the decoder. Some of them locks are definitely a bit clunky. Hi Kim Hi all See you later. That is if Saturday morning live is still on ?
Pete Woodfine here in the US I think cars have to be 25 to be confined Classic and 50 for antique. This one was I believe a 66 so I suck at math, is my title right?
@@selock Iam a 1964 vintage and I am 54 ( my birthday is later on in the year, a lot later) So I have been called ancient by my nephew so that's why I asked.
Jason, I find your bench work videos informative and entertaining to watch, thanks for taking the time to do these videos
You don't have to remove the facecap on GM 6 cuts to make a key for them, in fact it's faster not to. A few rules apply with them, no more than 3 difference in adjacent cuts, there will never be more than 3 of the same cut in a row, and if you add up all the cuts together they will always equal an even number.
On the door locks you drill a small hole such as 1/8" right on top of the sidebar, then I use a giveaway keyring that has the end bent out around my finger and while holding it I apply sidebar pressure with the giveaway keyring from the hand holding the lock, then a rake them with a double half ball pick or whatever your preference is, and once the sidebar drops you can turn the lock until the spring cap is under the drain slot. Then you take a worn hook pick and rock it into the slots and determine the cuts, you can use the shim type GM readers too but I find it faster to just use a pick, it's easy enough to eyball a 1 and a 5 and 2 3 and 4 will be easy to determine by how far the hook of your pick goes into the hole next to the spring cap cover. If you can only get the first 4 or so then it's simple enough to progression knowing they will always add up even and never have more than 3 in a row, and that the MACS is 3.
This technique is also useful for trunk locks and other GM locks that the plug won't come out of the housing until it's rotated, if you got a glovebox lock even better, they have the first or last 4 cuts and the numbers are stamped right on the plugs.
Also this system was in use by GM from 1934-1994 with the addition of one part, a 5 cut wafer sometime in the mid 70's. Those cars that use 6 cut VATS in 1994 and after will always (if factory lock) have the numbers stamped on them and you can use a cell phone camera set to macro mode with the light turned on in video mode to drop the wafers one at a time. Before reading ignitions that way I always use CRC QD contact cleaner and it does a nice job of removing crap from the lock and leaving a nice dry lock so you can see the numbers stamped in the wafers.
If your customer has a beater and is in a hurry you can also take a 3/32nd drill bit and drill the height of a 1 cut from the base of the blade to the side of the lock and that will put you right on top of the side bar and you can put a slightly bent piece of wire and apply sidebar tension by twisting said wire once inserted, then you can pick the lock and apply strong tension once picked and the wafers will better line up into their exact positions as opposed to when you pick them with rocker picks and rely on the turned lock to hold the sidebar down they sometimes tend to have a little slop in them as the slot the sidebar drops into on them tends to become a wider and wider V shape and won't always read properly though the keyway unless you press the sidebar down into the center of that V. For the shop I used to work for that was the only way they allowed us to drill a trunk lock one one of those locks and with a little practice they are super easy, and there are sooooooo many 6 cut cars still out there it's not even funny, every single one has razor sharp door panel cutouts and we used to joke that it was someone's job to sharpen the edges with a file as part of the production line.. which probably isn't far from the truth as badly as they can cut you, if you do have to yank one out I take a piece of tubing and slice it down the length, then put it around the hole you are reaching through so you don't rip your skin off when trying to get those lock clips off and it finally comes free and sends your arm flying against the sharp door edge.
Those GM 6 cuts are the bread and butter of the industry because nobody wants to work on them anymore, but they are very well designed and functioning locks and very secure compared to most others, very few cars have sidebar door locks let alone every lock but the glovebox lock. Another thing is those 6 cut locks were made in such huge numbers by briggs and stratton (now strattec) that they are still used on some heavy trucks and equipment through today. Most locksmiths will run away in terror from them when they are such easy money if you learn a thing or two about them.
Peter Carlson .. great read Peter. Too bad it’s a lost art like so many other things technology has killed.
@@pjdambra I wouldn't say it's a lost art, it's just that locksmithing is a trade job, which for the last couple decades public schools have been shunnnig as menial pointless work, they teach today that you need a very expensive pointless degree so the state can make money. As such, and the millennials feel they should get paid to do nothing if business is slow, they don't want to actually put in the work. It's really just changing culture in the USA.
Fact is, there is a lot of need for this, but people pay 3-5 times as much to swap out the locks as it costs a locksmith to just do the job properly as B&S designed the locks to be extremely serviceable, durable, and reliable.
There are very few automotive locks nowadays that I can tell are good just by a simple look, but these ones I can and unless the wafers are all chewed up and I see springs coming off the wafers through the keyway I know it's 99% likely to work with no more than a little squirt of locksmith cologne aka WD-40.
Are you a locksmith? and is this something you are interested in? I might make a video if there is interest in it. I have some footage using my cell phone camera to take macro video of the numbers inside these ignitions if it's something that people want to watch. I really need to get up to 1000 subscribers, I used to make a couple bux on youtube a month and it was kinda nice to cash it out ever couple months but nowadays there is not much to incentivate me to make videos unless it's something people are intersted in and for youtube it seems they only give search results to those who are copycating other peoples videos, and GM 6 cuts are something that I really don't see a lot of interest in but there may be a niche audience for it. It seems that the only locksmithing videos that are popular are "locksmiths" that show bypasses that they really shouldn't talk about to laypeople and that's something I won't do.
That key cutting hand tool looks ancient but does the job nicely.👍😃
Nice to see someone else still uses the 14 clipper!!! When it sticks if you just pull out on the lever that changes cuts it releases it.
Debbie Anderson I’m totally gonna try this!
I have a curtis it's old like 1st gen I lost all my carriages still have the GM carriage Just eyeball the depths. I used to do all the time on first key. still use clipper to cut 5 cut 1st cut
It is very interesting to see what a locksmith actually does on a daily basis.
Great video
I made my own decoder for these.
Basically a set of paperclips, bent to a 90° angle. I cut down the small side so that the bend is flush with the core when the small end is on the wafer. One of these for each cut depth. Works well enough;
Wolf that’s a good trick! As I was learning to sight decode I would use the broken pick in the same way. Thinking back I think I definitely had a ground down pick with little hash lines scratched into it :)
Thanks for this Jason. I've been buying Stratpack kits on ebay. I have yet to find a 6 cut kit. Have a good one!
Kevin Koepke I have one for sale
I have the model 15 almost 50 yrs.old,still going,needs some attachments,but it works fine.
The sum of the GM six cut depths will equal an even number if factory coded.
Correct, except for police cars in my experience which here in florida at least all tend to have the GM A keyway and some of them are actually keyed up to an odd key code, but that might be a regional thing. Also you will never have more than 3 cuts in a row and never more than 3 difference in adjacent cuts. ALso when reading the keys by eye the notch before the first cut is at exactly a #2 depth, so when you progression them with a file this makes getting your increment just right, if your file with constant presssure takes 5 cuts to get to a 2 it will take 10 to go to a three, 15 to go to 4 and 20 to go to 5. I used to work for a shop and they didn't want to order facecaps so we had to work around them or re-use them. With GM 6 cuts you can drill a hole in the side over the sidebar, and pick the sidebar down, rotate, and then you will be able to read the cuts through the spring cap through the drain slot in the bottom.
Hi there, Great instructional video. Thanks for doing this. My husband found a Model 14 online and we have received it. What is the name of the depth measure tool? We would like to purchase one. Do you have a soft copy of the user manual? Thank you, Diane
Do you have a video on how to take apart those GM ignition cylinders?
rwdplz1 mmm no video but I’ve done my fair share of them, it’s not really advised considering they were always fairly cheap to replace HOWEVER that is definitely changing as the years go by and certain ignitions are getting harder to come by, also you have to now factor in the “all original” historical car guys who want it the same. The retaining ring on the back is the worst part for sure. One day I’ll likely have the opportunity to do a video on one but for the most part it was always “replace” cause if you pull one with no code then it has been replaced before anyway. Have a great one
@@selock I just take a cheap spring loaded center punch that I ground off to a flat tip, then I clicka clicka clicka on the casting to drive that retainer out, pull it the rest of the way with vise grips, then wiggle the part that engates the sector gear off with a flatblade screwdriver.
Good stuff sir, definitely not your first rodeo with the GM 6 cut!
Wow I will send them too SE in Jackson Mississippi. Lol.😎
Good job, bro bro.
So im currently trying to decode an ignition right now, i have the code on the ignition, but i dont have a code book. Where can i find one? Thanks!
The Mighty Gator Tool. Pop the cap, pop the wafers, reset/ replace the wafers, reset a new cap, your done. What a fantastic tool. Do they even make that thing anymore ??
King Street Rob they probably do, but the few times I’ve seen it in use it requires a pretty careful hand. Since the SOP for GM6 is this, I can only recall one old car it would have been handy on but otherwise that little $150 sucker ain’t worth it. Also, it helps I’ve always had a entire drawer dedicated to face cap kits anyway ;)
@@selock I used to see it in locksmithing magazines all the time. That's the only reason I even know what it is. I thought the pliers you have may have been a gator but you corrected me on that already. I've never found a person or actually seen one of those things.
King Street Rob they used to talk about it on the old internet locksmith forum back 2000 or so (when it came out, as you know it was “the cool new tool to get”) and I remember seeing some pics of a not so great looking cap pull. It made sense cause of just how well crimped some of these are
@@selock I used to see the ad in magazines such as locksmith ledger etc. Was never on a computer back in 2000. I was one of those people that believed it would never last. "That's crazy, a box that can show you pictures and give you information" It will never last...Now people are watching porn on the bus going to work. Who knew ??
What was key blank for ignition? A?? P1098A?
I have a couple questions, but I will limit myself to one;
My parts catalogs do not show different uncoded door locks for different key types - what makes locks work with specific key types?
Do the keyways play role here?
Most of the stuff sold now is “composite keyway” which means they typically allow any of the lettered keyways be keyed to it :)
@@selock first, thanks for the reply. I am looking in decades old parts books, and the uncoded locks are not appearing to be key type dependant;
I know that GM typically used a four year cycle, so in the case of my car being a 1970, the same key types were also used in 1974, and I believe again in 1978. I am hoping to purchase some old stock lock cylinders and code them for my car - I want to be sure I buy the right stuff.
Nice video! Something a little different.
Taking me back to '85. Noticed that the first read of the door cylinder wasn't an even number.
Where can I purchase parts for a GM 9 pin lock. I need the metal bar that covers the 9 springs.
Also can ignition coded and door be rekeyed to same key?
Very informative.
Where can i get one of those key cutting pistol
can you post the directions again for the decoder? i didn't catch what to get after the chocolate flavored ovatine?
Jason, in the early days of locksmith training (early 1980's) I learned about the Briggs & Stratton side bar wafer lock. Does GM still use them in their ignitions?
Wayne Grant the theory of theirs has been adapted through the years, the GM10 just had a longer one. They still make freightliners and other oddball things with them though!
I have the same locks i need keys for. How can i get this done?
No clipper? Use a code machine or a file.
Do where do you get the curtis key cutter?
someone at our shop called up our distributor and just ordered them... in 1970 something 😜
That’s a real lost art. My new car doesn’t have any keys at all. All totally electronic. I have tons of old car key blanks if anyone is interested. I rarely ever do any cars anymore. Just do property management stuff now. Retired.
Hi Jason.
Thanks for taking the time to do this video.
At what age does a lock become an antique ?
That's a good bit of kit the decoder.
Some of them locks are definitely a bit clunky.
Hi Kim
Hi all
See you later.
That is if Saturday morning live is still on ?
Pete Woodfine here in the US I think cars have to be 25 to be confined Classic and 50 for antique. This one was I believe a 66 so I suck at math, is my title right?
and absolutely for #saturdaymorninglive :)
@@selock Iam a 1964 vintage and I am 54 ( my birthday is later on in the year, a lot later)
So I have been called ancient by my nephew so that's why I asked.
Hola cómo se abre el cilindro de la C10 de la llave de encendido necesito saber la combinación para colocarla en una chapa nueva
The locks have to be removed to be rekeyed
Indeed
What is that tool
Vencent Bauer which tool? The depth reader?
@@selock key cutter
Vencent Bauer it is in the title
2nd
lol