Porsche 911 Ignition Re-Key

[Determined]

I always wanted to try this so I bought a couple of Ignition switches, I had an original key already for my project car so I used this as my master key. I ended up doing the ignition switch and doors as well but I'll show the ignition switch only here.

I followed the advice from a few post and it was really easier than I thought, the doors were very simple but the ignition switch involved a bit more work and preparation.

Below is the ignition switch and the small pin that needs to be removed in order to remove the tumbler. It was suggested to drill a larger hole next to it and gently pry out the pin, worked great. I did not need to drill this deep as I learned later but there was no damage that affected performance. I used a small jewelers screw driver to lift the pin out, came out easy.





Next, I inserted the key to keep the tumbler springs from flying everywhere. I needed to lift the inner key housing out slowly then wedge a small screwdriver under the housing to help pry it up more. Then I removed the tumbler in whole with key in it.



Then I removed the inner housing completely out of the outer housing, exposing only the tumblers and key.



At this point, if you are merely fixing your own ignition with your key, then its very easy. Overtime the key and tumblers wear and this causes the tumblers to sit about the tumbler housing. When they sit above the housing with the key in it prevents rotation and thus you can't unlock it or at least it's harder to turn. To fix this I used my dremel with a round rectangular sanding disc and carefully ground down the tumblers that were high to flush with the housing. I then used some fine sandpaper and oil to smooth out the housing since my dremel made contact in a few spots. Then I flushed it out with a spay of WD-40 and blew it out with forced air.





In my case since the ignition switch was not original to my key, I purchased a new tumbler kit on Ebay and changed out the tumblers that protruded way to high with my key in place. Once I got it close to flush or below flush with the right tumblers then I was done. Of course, those still slightly above the housing were ground down then cleaned as I noted above. I re-assembled it and pressed the pin back in place and used some epoxy to fill my larger hole, maybe it wasn't needed but I did it anyway. If I have to go in there again years later I'll just dremel the epoxy out. Overall, a fun project. As I stated, I matched my key to the ignition and door locks as well. The same grinding process for the door locks worked out great.

[scary driving]

Awesome post! It's one of those things on my todo list that I really was dreading!

[Determined]

No problem, I travel a lot to Monterrey, MX for business. I'll be there next month, what a small world it is.