I recently purchased an 89 tail section and as it did not come with a lock I am needing to fit my older lock to the newer center section. I believed this would be very hard to accomplish at first, but after playing with it a bit I got it figured out and I thought I would do a quick write up with pics to show how I did it as I couldn't find one before I started working.
Firstly remove and clean the old lock assembly, mine was very dirty take special care with the sensor ring for the security system if your car still has it equipped. I found it easiest to remove the retaining clip and the cable leveraging working. After those are removed I drilled out the lower rivet in the bracket, and continued straight through the ear on the lock like so
this hole should line up with the lower clip on the center section, remove that clip and the right side one, then using the lock and bracket mark and drill a hole for each bolt like so
one that is done it is as simple as using a few bolts washers and nuts to connect them together I used 1/4 inch bolts 1.5 inches long . The lock must be spaced off of the black plastic a bit or it will not fit correctly, it sits about a quarter inch up to fit properly, a bit more if you use the old black ring on the end of the lock(I used a bit of black rtv to glue that black ring onto the red lens) you will have to test for this a few times to get the spacing just right, be careful not to break the clips that hold the lens to your center section. Once the lock is secured to the black plastic plate reassemble the lens, sensor ring, lever arm, and eclip and test for key function. I'll have a few more pics posted tomorrow of the finished work
Firstly remove and clean the old lock assembly, mine was very dirty take special care with the sensor ring for the security system if your car still has it equipped. I found it easiest to remove the retaining clip and the cable leveraging working. After those are removed I drilled out the lower rivet in the bracket, and continued straight through the ear on the lock like so
one that is done it is as simple as using a few bolts washers and nuts to connect them together I used 1/4 inch bolts 1.5 inches long . The lock must be spaced off of the black plastic a bit or it will not fit correctly, it sits about a quarter inch up to fit properly, a bit more if you use the old black ring on the end of the lock(I used a bit of black rtv to glue that black ring onto the red lens) you will have to test for this a few times to get the spacing just right, be careful not to break the clips that hold the lens to your center section. Once the lock is secured to the black plastic plate reassemble the lens, sensor ring, lever arm, and eclip and test for key function. I'll have a few more pics posted tomorrow of the finished work