Keys cont: I am a little disappointed in trying to sort out the keys of this van the way I wanted to do. Granted when I am working on the rest of the van, the subject of keys is rather frivolous. Since some discussion has taken place over the keys, here is the latest update.
The keys I have (called the N cut) do not fit the barrel properly; meaning that when inserted in the barrel it remains 2mm short of going fully home. The reason can be seen in the picture below:
Though dimension A is identical but dimension B is way too short. Further investigation revealed that in 1985 this VW model went through a bit of a change. There seems to be an early 1985 model and a late one. Mine is a bit of transition one. I have written away for the birth certificate of this van to figure out its production date. That document will shed more light.
Back when I was ordering parts, some wrong items were delivered. This was basically due to the model changeover confusion on my part. I guess this van has more common with the 1984 van as opposed to the 1986 model year. The key saga falls in this category. My guess is that the N cut keys are for the “late” 1985 onwards to the end of the production of the van.
In the business of doing up old vehicles, there is always the "win some lose some" scenario. This one fairly and squarely falls in the "lose some" category