Tuesday, July 8, 2014 — While rummaging around the shack looking for something else (of course!), I ran across this 1963 base for a Lightning Bug Standard that I’ve had tucked away for a while … I think it was basically a parts bug and I removed the other parts from the base (other than the name plate).
While a gray-based Vibroplex key isn’t exactly rare or particularly collectible, this one is unusual due to the multitude of extra holes in the base.
By my count, the base has 11 extra holes in it. If you look closely, you can see the outline of the original triangular bottom plate on the base. I’m really curious what a previous owner was doing with the base to add so many holes. I’ve wondered if the key was modified to be a single lever key … which might explain some of the extra holes.
It’s an oddity, that’s for sure. I have keys with an extra hole or two, but never this many. I don’t need a Lightning Bug base right now, but if I needed I could fill those holes and refinish it. I’ve long wanted to refinish the base of a 1960s bug and apply the pre-WWII black coating with gold carriage striping. I have some holes to fill on this one first, lol.
Does anyone have any special tricks to remove the name plate pins? I have used steel punch pins to drive them out from the bottom of the base (or at least get the head of the pin up off the plate). I’ve used a small pair of diagonal cutters (sitting on something to prevent marring the base or the name plate) to pull the pins out with a little leverage. It’s a little dicey an operation … I’m always afraid of damaging the nameplate.
I don’t think I’ll do anything with this one for the time being …. beyond wondering what a previous owner was trying to do with the extra holes. Who said morse keys are devoid of mystery and intrigue??
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