Ignition lock cylinder replacement?

Tiny
FURY47
  • MEMBER
  • 1990 BUICK RIVIERA
  • 3.1L
  • 6 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 86,000 MILES
I ended up in a dilemma here. This is for a friend of mine who I serviced a few of his cars at my old dealership. He has the car listed above, very nice very clean, however over the last 2 years the keys got lost, so we tried getting one cut from the vin, and found out the lock cylinder was previously replaced. So, I purchased a new lock cylinder and had vats pellet keys cut for the appropriate code. When I was removing it. The lock cylinder retaining bolt was incorrect and just kind of hanging out. I tried doing some research and even with the part number I cannot locate this bolt anywhere. Does anyone have an idea of a substitute I could use for this bolt? If you are familiar, the OEM one is threaded for about a 1/8" below the head and has a round shank to the tip that's smaller in diameter. It makes it worse that I don't know the proper term for that specific style bolt. It almost looks like a blind bolt without the anchor. Anyone got a suggestion?
Wednesday, May 7th, 2025 AT 3:45 AM

1 Reply

Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 14,425 POSTS
I don't think I've ever replaced a cylinder retainer screw unless it was a theft car. There are a couple of them available, the common one in the style you have for the 82-92 columns is GM part 7830377. However, those are no longer available new. Steering Column Services would likely have one or two on hand.

They are online https://www.steeringcolumnservices.com/.

There are a couple other options though. The threads on them are more like a self-tapping screw because when first installed there are no threads in the mounting hole as they are more or less considered a single use item because replacing or repairing a lock cylinder shouldn't be a common thing. So, what you could do would be to get a coarse threaded screw that barely starts in the hole, put a nut that fits it on and tighten it to the head. Then chuck it up in a drill and run the open threaded area against a grinding wheel and "turn" it down to the same diameter as the retainer you have. Then once you get it to the correct shape, remove the nut. Now take it to a stove, heat it red hot and drop it into some cold oil. That would give it some hardening to prevent wear. The other option would be to take a flat punch and gently pein around the existing hole to tighten it so the current screw fits, add a drop of blue loc-tite as a retainer. Unless the damage is on the cylinder end, that could mean someone pulled the cylinder without removing it, that beats them up.
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Wednesday, May 7th, 2025 AT 9:05 AM

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