I've got a '98 Rover Mini (Jap Spec), and I'm sick of having to lock the doors using the key, eg. You can only lock the door from the inside if the door is closed..

Is it possible to remove this mechanism? I'm sure it's an idiot proofing so I don't lock myself out, but I'd really like it if I could just slide the lock over when I'm getting out of the car and then close a locked door behind me.

Has anyone done this? Is it worth investigating?

Thanks,

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1998 Rover Mk VII
2001 Honda CBR 929RR (street)
2014 BMW S1000RR (track)

Just put central locking in.

"chirp chirp"

That'd be nice, but I'd be undoing all the hard work of shedding kilos when I removed the A/C!

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1998 Rover Mk VII
2001 Honda CBR 929RR (street)
2014 BMW S1000RR (track)

It's not one of those locks that you close with the door handle up? I.e. open the door, lock the door on the inside, close the door while holding up the outer handle?

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That's strange. I upgraded my locks a little while ago, so I had to adjust both mechanisms so they worked with the new locks. I thought the original mechanism allowed you to lock it from the inside, then slam the door & it would lock. With the door ajar, sliding the lock on the inside moves a cam against the flat plate above the mechanism in the door, then when the door closes & that big heavy C-shaped lump in the lock rotates against the door jamb section. The thin plate slides downwards, allowing the cam to slot in & prevent the plate moving upwards again.
Is it an incorrect memory of how it worked, or maybe it only worked with old locks?
I don't have one here to look at ATM, but I have a spare at home, so I'll try to see tonight. Magic smoke escaped from home computer, so if anyone else can jump in a bit quicker....

BTW, you don't need to shed kg, just increase Hp. If it's that critical, put in a switch to bypass the alternator so you run at a total loss for a little while as you overtake - An extra 2-3Hp!!!! Don't forget to switch back again though.

Edit - timmy201 may be right.

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1.8L Sunshine - Legal, legit & lovinit

Nope, it doesn't work that way on mine ATM. The inner door lock is an "arm" type mechanism that pivots from the front of the car towards the rear to lock. When the door is open, it simply won't slide all the way back. It only slides about halfway and then meets resistance. As you close the door, it moves forward again and the door is unlocked.

PITA in my opinion. (And I've only locked myself out once, when I was 17 years old, so I'll take my chances...)

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1998 Rover Mk VII
2001 Honda CBR 929RR (street)
2014 BMW S1000RR (track)

PS slugman - Alternator bypass - genius!! Only a mini driver......

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1998 Rover Mk VII
2001 Honda CBR 929RR (street)
2014 BMW S1000RR (track)

You can't mod the lock to work the way you want - whilst I haven't tried to do it, I have dismantled the locks to rebuild them and it can't really be done.

I'm sure it's been done many times in the past by all those sneaky old-codger racers, but I got the idea after driving our old Mazda 121 - We called the Air-Con button the "Turbo", since pressing it to turn off the air-con gave us a heap of extra power. Well OK, not a 'heap' as such, but when you don't have much to start with, it makes a noticable difference. I never sat down to work out how to wire it up, but it shouldn't be hard as long as you have some sort of warning light/buzzer to remind you to turn it off. I turned to the dark side instead - VTEC & 125kw.

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1.8L Sunshine - Legal, legit & lovinit