Just finished with the auto locksmith from the most established firm in the area. After asking me questions that revealed that he had never worked with this style, he retrieved a hammer & screwdriver from his van. He explained in detail how his "contact" was very familiar with this unit & that the cap had to be unscrewed. I told him this was what you do for the 1-hole c-class, so he suggested "drilling it out". I sent him home, explaining to him that should he bill me hourly, his actions might only enlarge my troubles.

Ok, today, I'm going to the bike shop to get every diameter spoke until I find one tight. I will grind down a 70 degree angle on each of the two ends.

But help me here - How in the world does the cap release by pressing in the detends. I can't envision a means by which this large hardened cap can be released by releasing the the tumbler - BECAUSE the cap is over the tumbler. Once I purchased a tumbler, I became baffled at the thought that....

How can the tumbler's release remove this hardened collar, when the tumbler is inside the collar? If I can envision this, I'll feel much more confident in giving the extra effort.

My best guess is that the collar turns 90 degrees to lock on to the tumbler before inserting the set... but I don't see any such cutout on the tumbler.

Thanks again!

Oh, John - I can pull on the tumbler by turning a screw tight into where the key slot.

To the engineer - all that I have read about this subject, I'm shocked that you were able to do such a thing. My key broke off, so I don't have this option. Sounds like the sander / jigsaw vibration applied to the key might have worked for you also.