I was a bit worried about how I was going to remove the lock cylinder with the section that holds the key punched out. The proper technique for removing the lock cylinder involves putting the key in and then turning the cylinder so that the correct tool (or large paper clip) can be inserted in the hole near the key to retract the metal bar that holds the lock cylinder in place.
Fortunately with a few tools like a flat blade screwdriver, needle nose pliers, and the large paper clip I was able to remove the damaged part.
Inserting the new part that I had found in the glove box was an easy process and I was glad to find that it was keyed properly, the key that was supplied with the vehicle (there were two) worked in the new lock cylinder and the car started with the key.
Since I had the camera inside the car I snapped a few other shots of the current condition of the car.
With the weather unseasonable warm today there was a great opportunity to back the Silver S4 into the driveway and wash it off. I had the trickle charger running all night long but it still hadn’t reached the 80% charged point so I was a little worried about getting the car back into the garage after cleaning it off. It started up pretty easily with the charger still attached and after backing it out of the garage there were no signs of oil dripping. I did make sure and back it up far enough that if I had to pull the Miata alongside of it to jump start I’d be able to.
The passenger side wheel I’d managed to get off after whacking the inside of the tire with a 2×6. I put one of my SSR comps on that corner. I tried the same thing with the driver’s side but to no avail, the wheel would not budge. The next step will be driving the car (slowly) with the lug bolts loosened and try to get the wheel to break loose.
Here’s the car after washing. Both tabs on the passenger side headlight were broken so I just took the headlight out. I also put my old air filter, which looked newer than the one in the Silver S4, into the car and also used the bottom half of my airbox which has the Darintake mod done to it. Since I had the airbox out I cleaned up the ICM’s and used some dielectric grease on the mounting plate. I also disassembled the MAF and used MAF cleaner on the sensor.
After getting the S4 back I decided to leave it on the trailer overnight. There were a few things I wanted to check out on it as well as trying to get the tire inflated. Getting the car off the trailer was likely to take some time so decided that it could wait until morning.
In the morning I was relieved to find that my air pump was filling the passenger side tire and there did not sound like any major leaks in the tire. This would make taking the car off the trailer easier. I also topped off the coolant reservoir and added a little more oil. Then the trailer was tilted up and the car rolled off without needing to be turned on.
After another successful jump start I relocated the Silver S4 to the garage and began with the first order of business, removing all of the markings that the auction site had applied to the windows and the New York City Police Department sticker from the front windshield.
After cleaning the windows I went into the interior to vacuum up the dirt and wipe down the surfaces. To my surprise I found this in the glove box:
As of this writing I am puzzled by how the car ended up at the auction site. The paperwork that accompanied the title shows that when Geico ran a repair estimate for the damage to the car the total was about $1000, and the owner had a $500 deductible, leaving Geico with a repair bill of $500. The lock cylinder was a newly purchased item keyed for this car, puzzling.
