I get mine (switchblade key) tomorrow. I'll play with it over the weekend and let you guys know.

I have an 04 TL by the way.

 

Hey Chad,

Can you take a picture of the '07 Fob beside an '04-'06 Fob. Just want to get a sense how big the '07 Fobs are.

Thanks.

 

Sure man.




Hope that helps.
-chad

 

getting closer!!!

 

OK Guys...

I ordered the key yesterday afternoon and they told me that "If the wharehouse has them... I can expect the key as early as tomorrow" I didn't really get any kind of confirmation as to whether the keys are backordered or not, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The machining of the key blank is relatively simple. Two cuts per side and then cutting the angles on the tip. When done it will be exactly like a blank key. A quick trip to Home Depot to get it cut and Viola!!!

Funny... When I got to the dealer the parts dept. manager said... Oh! You're the one that wants the key... what are you up to? I guess my reputation has already proceeded me at the dealership. After explaining to him what I wanted to do he asked me if I was interested in doing a few of them for the dealership. I told him I'd get back to him.

So... If this works out... I'm sure there will be some members interested in getting a key or two made up. I guess I need to work things out with the admin/s here but I'm pretty sure that I can do up a key for $25. That would cover the cost of using the companies equipment and a machinists time, tooling etc. But... at this point it's just talk. Although my confidence level is high for this mod... it still hasn't been proven out yet.

carpecervisi... Do you have access to a micrometer or caliper... I'm concerned about the thickness of the key blank and wondered if you could measure it for me.

Thickness of my '06 key is .098" or 2.5mm. Width (although it doesn't matter) is .382" or 9.75mm

 

You are correct the lasercut blade is thicker than the standard key blade.

So in addition to the sides and tip you also need to take the thickness down and ALSO the longitudinal grooves since a locksmith or home depot does not put those in the blade

 

Keep us posted, I want this mod real bad now, I asked my cousin at Curry to keep a lookout for those keys

 

My bad... I guess I wasn't clear enough. By "two cuts on the sides" I meant the longitudinal grooves. The thickness is no problem. I can take that down with a fly cutter in one pass. Only adds and extra couple minutes to the process. The width doesn't matter as the stop for the key is cut as part of the key form.

Dude... I know you don't know me but, I got it covered. 25 years in the biz and over 20 patents has netted me the ability to easily execute this project 1st time around.

I do appreciate you watching out for me though.

 

True I don't know you, just going off what I was told had to be done

good luck with the process and let us know when you get it done.

 

argh, my accord key finally came unglued but this one is tempting me

 

FLBusa---
So, I'm doing the quick math and I get this: $47 for the key + $25 for the maching = $72 total

Would $100 plus shipping be too little for you to ask if you started doing this for us? I think that I could pay this for a key ready to be cut and programed. I do not know what you really do, wether a full time machinist or whatever but I think there is some real profit here for you and some cool keys here for us. It may also help you to do a couple for the dealer (as you mentioned) if they will start getting you more or getting you them at a discount. I know some of the good dealers like to have small perks for good customers and this would be a good one for them. Plus, not having to JB Wield is a big plus for this. I hate that stuff.

 

Try jbweld on it. I used that on my accord key and it has lasted almost 9 months now

 

According to what I have in front of me:

07 blank: .116"
05 blank: .099"

I was in the process of CAD'ing out the 05 blank (which I'm sure is overkill) to give the machinist I used to mill off the thickness an idea of what I was looking for, but hell you sound like you may have it covered when you get your key.

Keep us posted and if your key doesn't show, I'll FedEx you one of mine you can use to prototype.

-chad

 

You will still have to reprogram it yourself, either by paying the dealer upwards of $80 to do it or trade out the immobilizer from one of your current keys

 

Damn you, stoopid immobilizer chip!!

 

Just do what i did. Take a grinder to the valet key and use the immobilizer from it. I mean who actually valets there car and hands them the valet key.............I guess I'm not that important.

 

I think an even $100 would be fine but something like $85 would be more of a fair price. I know that you as well as many others here would like a key so I've already prepared myself for the onslaught. I'm willing to make the investment up front, which means buying the keys and doing the machining so that all you'd have to do is take it to a locksmith and program the remote.

JB Weld has it's uses but it's by no means a permanent nor elegant solution. Myself... I would never settle for anything less than professional and that's what I'm aiming for.

 

10-4

Thanks for the offer (and the quick mesurement) Chad

I'm ready to hit the ground running as soon as I have a key in hand. We'll see how thing progress over the next few days.

Even if I don't need your key... you can send it to me and I'll take care of ya.

 

Im soooo EXCITED!!

 

Hmmm... I wonder how much the dealer would charge to just make a spare key for someone? I'm sure they do it all the time. Are there any bonded locksmiths out there that would or could do it?

 

X2!!!!! ... thank you guys for taking the time and effort..

 

See that the thing, you yourself can't program the key for someone else unless you have all there keys and remotes. I'm assuming the spare key is one for an 04-06 which is about $85 cut and programed.........not including the remote fob

 

X3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Keep us TSX folks up to date too. I used to make the USDM Accord key for folks and there are a lot of ppl wanting to do 07 TL key conversion over there, if you are successful. Based on your previous posts, I have confidence it will be.

Additionally, I may have the ability to become a supplier of the key since i have a contact on the inside at Acura. I'm still waiting for 2 TL keys I ordered to come in as well.

 

PM me please... I want to ask you something off-line.

 

I read most posts so I hope this has not been covered already.

The 04-06 has a very narrow angled plastic key head but the new switchblade fob is very wide and flat. The 07' blanks may not be long enough to get in as deep as the the 04.

Remember once you insert the key fully you need to be able to press it in further to get the lock disengaged and turn to ACC. The 04 has quite a deep hole. I learned this the hard way. I bought a Honda blank that fit the grooves but the key would not insert deep enough without the head being ground down to allow deeper insertion.

Judging by the shape of the fob I'm guessing 07 steering column ignition has a flatter key hole than the 04.

 

hmmm....interesting thought, triggle.

 

Yes... Very

I went out and tried my key and it goes in right up to plastic.

Chad...

Is the blank on the SB Key longer? Lay your key on top with it rotated 180. Maybe there's enough room.

 

okay. I guess I am not getting which part number are the correct number. So can someone please advise me on what part number I need to get the correct items for this KEY fob. THank you.

 

35111-SEP-306/307
Driver 1/2

 

Thank you.

 

The price at my dealer is only $31.50

Does that sound right?

 

I was just giving you a big enough profit to do it. I guess it depends on how much of a pain this becomes for you and how efficent you can make the production.

 

Assuming the blade for the 04-06 needs to be 3/8" longer than the 07 blank and we somehow get one made up by a machine shop, will it be too long to be folded into the fob ?

I am not sure if someone has done this mod with the epoxied key on not. If not it is something to consider. Wasn't that for a 2gTL ?

 

Is this a go? Who do we send money to for the switch-blade key?

 

I assume you have a machine shop in your company. The grooves on the sides are not symmetrical. But, I'm not sure making the groove profile rectangular would work... I'm looking into catalogs to see if there are keyway cutters that matches the profile. If there ain't one. 1) I might have to get one dressed somehow to the profile or 2) program the mill to take small steps and finish with a grinder.

Only other machining issue appears to be fixture to hold the blank for flycutting to get the thickness down. I don't know if the key blade is stiff enough to prevent chattering when it's clamped down on the head portion. Worst come I suppose it can be just sanded down on a decent drum sander.

If you get things to work, please post regarding the machining detail. I'm not even close to getting a blank yet, so all this is in the anticipation of future availability :/ Thanks.

 

Yep... I just don't want it to be so expensive that people aren't willing to buy any.

Besides... making a big profit isn't my M.O. Just want to cover expenses.

 

I dont understand why the dealers are charging $30 for this key ?

But I am deff not complaining, I can't get my hands on one as of yet.

 

That could be right but when I was quoted a price similar to that, it was actually for the electronics package of the remote, not for the key blank or remote housing.

If you can get everything at that price, buy all you can, you'll definitely be able to move them.

 

Yes

Yes they are They're radially symmetrical (like a propeller) not bilaterally symmetrical. If it weren't you would only be able to use the key in one orientation like your house key.


I'm pretty sure it will. Looks like the side closest to the key form is perpendicular to the key face. The opposite side has what appears to be around 5* - 10* draft.
Somebody out there is making these keys so there's probably a standardized cutter available. It's not too difficult to re-grind one side of a woodruff keyslot cutter to mimmic the existing groove profile. Bear in mind that the dimensions of the key are in mm when you go searching for a cutter. It's not coincedence that the thickness of the old (.098) and new (.116) keys convert to 2.5mm and 3.0mm respectively.


I'm confident that it just needs to be clamped in a vice with a couple parallels under it. Two .004 passes per side won't pop out the blank. Remember... It's not a 20,000 unit per day production run. We're talking a couple hundred keys at the most.

I'll keep ya posted. I'm going to machine up a prototype first and do some testing before I commit to cutting up the key I bought.