Key codes for vehicles built prior to the 1980s are something of a lost cause. The codes would have been on the vehicle's documents received by the "ship to" dealership, which would have been immediately put in a file at the dealership. There usually was a small metal tag with the code on it, on the keys received with the vehicle. On GM vehicles, a "knock out" on the key's head had the code stamped into it. To be removed and kept in a safe place by the owner. If needed, the code was then taken to a dealership to get a duplicate key cut.
The code was looked up in a code book, usually in the dealership's parts department. That gave them the "cut code" for the key. The sequence and depths of each of the cuts on the key. A person familiar with the cuts and such could visually look at the key and hand-cut a new one without looking up the code, by observation. Or re-key a blank cylinder to a particular key.
Nothing like a modern vehicle, or at least newer than somewhere in the 1990s, where you show up with proof of ownership, government-issued identification document(s), the vehicle's VIN, any other required information, and the parts person submits that informtion into the OEM's computer to get the code sent to them.
On some of the old cylinders, the code for the cylinder was stamped into the side of the cylinder, as in a door cylinder. But to get the "cut code", you'd have to carefully disassemble the cylinder and look at the sequence of the tumblers (and any small stamp/ID numbers on them!) to cut a new key.
New key sets are usully easy to find in the artermarket. Quite inexpensive, too. But to do a complete vehicle (doors, ign, trunk, glove box) you might end up with several keys. Rather than just two, doors/trunk and ignition.
The door panels are usually not hard to remove. The door cylinders are usually held in with a large, sliding clip. Kind of difficult to get to, sometimes, but probably easier to get out than to reinstall.
Even if the code is stamped on the side, you'd still need a code book to get the cut code for duplication. Or find a lock-person to make up a custom code for your vehicle and key the doors/trunk/glove box cylinders to match, with the ign key being unique to its cylinder.
New blanks can be purchased from several sources, which are correct for the make, model, and year of the vehicle.
Not nearly as neat and easy as a newer vehicle, but still similar in many respects.
Enjoy!
CBODY67
