Does anyone know off hand if the lock mechanism from an '80's truck will fit and function in a '78 door? I was thinking it would be cool to only have one spare key for both trucks. One cut on one side and the other cut on the other side. My '78 F350 project came with a title but no keys at all, so I'll have to spring for some new locks or a trip to the lock smith either way.

Thank you in advance

 

Your 86 has a different key for the door than the ignition. 78 uses one key for door and ignition. I think the 78 style door lock will fit the 86. Might have to change linkage held in place with a c clip. Other than the door lock. Yes you can have the 2 side cut differently.

For what it's worth dept. My 86 F250 and 89 Squire wagon had both the same key for the doors and the same key for the ignition.

 

you can have a key cut with the pattern cut for one Ford on one side and the pattern cut for the other Ford on the other side. My square key is cut for my 76 F250 on one side and my wife's 90 Ranger on the other. It took 2 or 3 tries to find someone that wanted to try cutting it that way. finally found someone at Ace Hardware that would

 

That's a cool idea. I guess if you insert the key and it doesn't work, you know just to flip it around? Kind of like plugging USB into the computer.

 

Actually, the pins in the ignition switches seem to be on opposite sides between the 2 eras, so I just have a little notch on the side of the square to just hold the key same way whichever vehicle I am using. But between vehicles of same era, the notch would serve to know which way is up.