1978 Chevy Silverado

A couple of days ago when I started my truck up, I brought the key back
from the start position to the run position, but it didn't feel right.
Upon trying to turn the key, I find that i cant move it. It's jammed,
really bad.

The key is looks like it's been carved and theres barely any definition
of teeth left on it, so i figured that the lock cylinder is just worn
out after nearly 30 years of constant use. I tried the original and
unused spare key thats in perfect shape, but it didn't help.

I bought an ac delco replacement lock cylinder. I've removed the
steering wheel, and the lock plate, but I cannot figure out what to do
from here. The haynes manual says to insert a thin steel rod into the
slot and press to the right and the lock cylinder will release. The
problem is, the pictures in the haynes book do not correspond to what I
have in my steering column at all. There are slots, but one gives you
access to the start rod, and the other is just open, you can just stick
a screwdriver in there but it wont touch anything. I've probed all
around with screwdrivers without any sucess. I seriously have no idea
what to do at this point. I've searched these groups over the last
couple of days but havent found anything related to my truck either.

I've taken a picture of the open steering collumn. I'm hoping someone
has seen one like this before and can tell me exactly how to get this
lock out.

http://www.hidebehind.com/60A69951

Any help or advice is appreciated.

whitelightning

Ok look at your column, at the top just to the left is the lock pin, to its
immediate
right is where the "contacts" that make the buzzer go off when you leave the
key in the ignition
goes, further to the right is the top turn signal mounting screw. between
them closer to the center that "depressed" rectangle is where you need to
push a thin blade screw driver through,
its just a thin layer of flashing.

Whitelightning

steve

Wow, that was really easy. I just went outside, knocked the metal piece
out, stuck a piece of sheet metal in the slot, and it popped right out.
The thing I was missing was knocking the piece out. Haynes manuals are
notorious for wording things in ambiguous ways. I'm gonna put the new
lock cylinder in tomorrow, hopefully that will go smoothly, if not i'll
be back. Thanks whitelightning.