Trunk key cover repair

[Elessee]

My key cover plate was worn on it's edge, from thousands of openings over the years. The cover would not stay up and out of the way of the key, so it took two hands to insert a key. It is designed to be caught by the top edge of the tapered "ramp". (see pix)

The wear can't be repaired by welding or soldering because it's a zinc pot metal and would be destroyed by high heat. So would the plastic emblem..

This is how I fixed mine. You might think of a better or easier way... and more power to you.
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Lincoln was kind enough to use soft aluminum rivets on mine.
First drill out/off the plate's 2 attaching rivets' heads with a 3/16" (or so) drill bit. The head will likely "spin" and you'll know you've cut through and drilled deep enough. Needless to say, don't drill deeper than necessary... so I say it anyway.

The rivets' bodies might then fall into the trunk. If not, squeeze the remainder of the protruding tubes, and gently tap them in with a skinny "nail set" or a nail or something.

The plate and cover will come off. That's all that needs to be removed. The lock and all that stuff stays where it is.
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Flip it over and see that the cover plate is attached by a strong spring. Grab the spring's lower hook end with a pliers and lift it a little to release the hook. Then turn the spring to release it's top "S" shape. Needless to say, don't let the spring fly away into Never-Never land... so I say it anyway.

The two pieces can be separated.

 

[Elessee]

I wanted my repair to last, and decided on using stainless steel. The back of an old butter knife provided plenty of flat, thin raw material. I cut it out with a Dremel and cut-off wheel.

The thin strip of stainless will most likely need to be trimmed and shaped by trial and error. Dremel wheel, pliers and a cup of water for cooling.

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The photos say what is hard to put into words. Examine your plate and compare it with the photos. The damaged plate has a worn groove and needs a back-up. I used a Dremel/wheel to carve a slim, shallow indentation for my steel strip. A good tight fit will last a long time. Epoxy is a good glue, but it is not all that strong.

This is close-up work with small parts and requires some patience.
My piece was very carefully trimmed to fit perfectly in it's place.. And then it was epoxied.

I took the trouble of extending the strip far beyond the problem area so it gets some additional support, provided by the spring post and a rib. No way can the steel repair strip be knocked or bent out of it's little groove when opening or closing the key-cover..

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After you have that strip of metal in place, the cover plate cannot swing open as far as it originally did. The added metal makes that edge thicker, and it will run right into the "stop" (which prevents the cover from opening too far).
That "bump" or "stop" has to be trimmed slightly so that the cover can open wide enough to expose the upper rivet hole. If not, you cannot install the new top rivet. (The Dremel and cut-off wheel make the trimming easy.)

That's it. Reassemble the spring / cover, and rivet the cover plate back into position on the trunk lid. Aluminum 1/8"D X 3/8" long rivets.

After the repair, the plate STAYS up, and has to be pulled toward you slightly to release. I considered rounding over the SS strip so it didn't "catch" so firmly, but decided against that. The danger is trimming too much off, and accidentally un-fixing the fix. [EDIT== After closely looking at these pix, I recall that I did bevel the SS strip's very sharp edge so it didn't catch the ramp too firmly.]

I am very conscious of the repair and now handle the key-cover gently.
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Study the photos..
Ask for clarification if something needs further explaining.