Thanks for the reply. I looked around some other forums too and found a very nice procedure for the '97 lock replacement.

I understand the DAS has to be dealt with but still am trying to understand how, and your example is one way. To be more stock-like, is it possible to order from a dealer a key and cylinder, where the key has the DAS chip for my VIN? It just seems to me that as often as this has happened, there must be a way to put it all back together just like stock. Or at least get a key and cylinder where the key is the kind that goes into a fob, and I can just buy a fob and swap the keys? Pictures on Pelican Parts pages show old style keys that are not appropriate for a '97. Perhaps I should contact them and find out.

Meanwhile, it looks like I'll be driving my bug to work tomorrow.

__________________
Charlie

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'66 VW 1300 96K miles
'97 E300D 239K miles
'85 300D 203K miles (sold Sep 2012)