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Original Sussex Installations video

Van Deadlock Fitting: The Clean Down and Rust Prevention

Why removing swarf and protecting freshly cut metal are essential parts of a professional installation

Video ID: P9QrbSE9iLsMaintenance and ownershipDec 23, 2012 · 90,040 recorded views

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Jeff Scott’s retrospective context — 2026

This video records one of the installation standards I felt most strongly about. Drilling and cutting a van creates sharp metal swarf, and if that swarf is left sitting on painted panels, inside seams or trapped between the lock case and the door if the locks are not removed after the test fit, it can begin rusting and damage the van long after the installer has gone.

I had seen vans only a year or so old with rust pouring down doors after poor fleet installations. That is why compressed-air clean-down, brushing where appropriate and treating cut edges were not optional extras in our fitting process.

A deadlock can work perfectly and still be a bad installation if the installer has damaged the vehicle, left swarf behind or failed to protect the cut metal. The installation standard has to include the future condition of the van, not just whether the lock operates when the job is finished.

A deadlock can work perfectly and still be a bad installation if the installer has damaged the vehicle, left swarf behind or failed to protect the cut metal.

Original description

Here we show what effort we put into doing a quality installation, we go further than most would in order to keep the rust away from your van body work! Find out what's important in van lock fitting, car and attention, the clean down and rust protection. This is an installation on a MERCEDES SPRINTER VAN of LOCKS 4 VANS DEADLOCKS.

Visit http://www.sussexinstallations.co.uk/... if you would like deadlocks fitted and are in one of the following areas;
Sussex, Crawley, Brighton, London, Worthing, Kent, Horsham, Surrey, Haywards Heath

Subscribe to both our YouTube channel and website newsletter to keep up to date with van security products and advice; as things are constantly changing as we respond and adapt to new attack techniques as we see them.

Note: Whilst we take great care in selecting products and techniques that we believe are effective to increase your van's security, we can never guarantee that any van is safe from a break in, please see our website for full terms and conditions.
Sussex Installations demonstrates the meticulous process of cleaning and rust-proofing after drilling holes for a van deadlock. By removing the lock mechanism after testing, all metal debris is cleared and treated with wax to prevent future corrosion.

What customers say

This extract is from a genuine five-star Google review describing exactly this stage of the fitting process.

★★★★★"Really went the extra mile with cleaning, sealing and lubricating all the cut parts of the door before fitting the locks to prevent corrosion."
Edward Warrington · Google review, September 2026

Review wording has been lightly shortened for display without changing its meaning. Full reviews remain available on the Sussex Installations Google Business Profile.

Common questions

Why do you take the locks back out again right after you've just fitted them?

It might look like a step backwards, but this is what I call the clean down, and I think it could be the most important part of the whole job. I open up the fixing holes and take the locks back out so I can properly clear away all the metal swarf that's collected from cutting and drilling, then wax and rust-protect everything before putting the locks back in with fresh grease.

Can rust on a van door really come from somewhere else, like a roof rack, rather than from the lock fitting itself?

Yes, and it's worth knowing before you assume the worst. I've seen vans with rust pouring down door panels where the real cause was rusty metalwork from a roof rack sitting above, dripping down and eating into the paintwork below. So rust you see on a door doesn't always start on that door.

Does fitting deadlocks always risk causing rust to my van?

Cutting and drilling are an essential part of fitting deadlocks, so there is a genuine risk if it's done carelessly. But it doesn't have to cost you your van in terms of rust. If the installer properly clears every bit of swarf and debris with air and a brush, then rust-protects the bare metal, a professional installation shouldn't leave your van any worse off years down the line.

Transcript

Show transcript
0:10 -that's right cutting and drilling are
0:12 -both an essential part of Van deadlock
0:15 -fitting and a lot of customers that
0:17 -phone me up and inquire about locks they
0:19 -they're very concerned about um rust to
0:21 -their vehicles will it cuse rust to the
0:22 -vehicles and you know what that's a very
0:24 -valid point because um it could well do
0:26 -you know rust is like the the cancer of
0:29 -uh of vehicles on the road and it um
0:31 -once you get it it just seems to spread
0:32 -and it's a real big nightmare you know
0:34 -it can really ruin what would otherwise
0:36 -be such a lovely van so um I'm going to
0:39 -tell you what I do please do take a
0:42 -watch what I do is once I've got my
0:45 -locks uh temporarily fitted and secured
0:48 -by self-tapping
0:50 -screws I just have a
0:53 -test and make sure that yeah it fits
0:56 -that's right everything's in the correct
0:58 -place
1:05 -and then what I do now is I set about
1:07 -what I call the clean
1:10 -down I think that the clean down could
1:12 -actually be the most important part of
1:14 -the lock fitting and um I know it sounds
1:16 -silly but I've gone to all the effort of
1:18 -fitting them and I've got them all in
1:19 -place but now I'm going to open up the
1:21 -the pot rivet holes to uh open up the
1:23 -self tapping hole to the size that will
1:25 -take the pop rivits and I'm actually
1:26 -going to take them all out again which I
1:28 -know it seems silly when I've gone
1:29 -through all that effort to put them in
1:30 -but this can be the difference between a
1:33 -a van that's going to be rusty in years
1:35 -to come and a van that's not so they
1:37 -take them out they see what uh what
1:38 -metal Dey lays behind get it cleared out
1:41 -the way wax all all the all the holes up
1:43 -give them good Rush treatment and then
1:44 -put all the locks back in with a nice
1:46 -bit of Grease please check it
1:48 -out so here goes for what may seem like
1:51 -the stupid part if you see all these
1:53 -holes are drilled out now all it's all
1:55 -been cut it's all been drilled there's
1:57 -there's no uh Extra metal Dey that needs
1:59 -to be
2:01 -made if I take out the the parts here
2:04 -the lock Barrel you can see there's a
2:06 -bit of um debr around there which all
2:08 -needs a good clean
2:09 -off and if I remove the plate which I've
2:12 -got an extra security plate on this uh
2:14 -particular vehicle you'll see behind
2:16 -here all the metal debris that's
2:18 -collected where I've been cutting you
2:20 -can see across the back of the plate and
2:22 -uh and indeed around inside the actual
2:24 -lock mechanism itself so what we're
2:27 -going to do is we clear all that away
2:29 -take off all this um take off all the
2:31 -masking tape and get rid of all the
2:33 -stuff that's behind that and give it a
2:35 -good clean down and rust
2:40 -protect so here we
2:42 -are all the masking tape off and um good
2:46 -bang here and get some anything is
2:48 -coming out of the bottom still
2:56 -out same here all the masking take clear
2:59 -CLE out the way but there is a lot to be
3:01 -cleared now of um debris so it's not
3:04 -just the cups that we've made here
3:06 -around the screws or the actual for the
3:08 -lock aperture but um it's actually all
3:10 -this stuff that's sitting on the side
3:11 -all this debris so this may look like
3:14 -it's Innocent but you give that a couple
3:16 -of weeks and that'll start to rust you
3:18 -give that 6 months or a year and it'll
3:19 -probably be the whole body work
3:20 -blistered so
3:23 -um if you see a van you know and you see
3:25 -it with the the panels with rust pouring
3:27 -off of them quite often I ask myself why
3:29 -and I up you know is it that there was a
3:31 -roof rack that was fitted up here and
3:33 -the roof rack is dripping you know Rusty
3:35 -and and the rust is coming down the the
3:37 -the rusty Meadow is sitting on the
3:39 -surface and then it's eating into the
3:40 -actual paint work of the vehicle so
3:42 -although you might have rust on doors it
3:45 -it might not have originated there it
3:46 -could be that actually it come from a
3:48 -roof rack or something along those lines
3:50 -so we used a combination here of the of
3:53 -the brush and do the uh the air blow gun
3:56 -or whatever have good
4:02 -we go um we make sure we go inside all
4:04 -the handle like as
4:09 -it all the way
4:14 -down of course we don't sitting on the
4:17 -bumper
4:20 -either and we go around and do like uh
4:23 -the door
4:24 -Runner so even to the point of here
4:47 -good our C all
4:51 -up that one's on
4:56 -already am I going over the top with
4:59 -this going too far probably but to me
5:02 -it's worth
5:04 -it so here we going loads of lubricant
5:08 -there nice lot of grease on it it's
5:10 -going to go in there a treat
5:36 -here we go all
5:39 -finished door opens the door just if
5:43 -they get past the original locks the
5:44 -door just opens a few
5:49 -mm the plate all nicely cleaned off all
5:52 -the debris behind the door
5:54 -gone backs the same there we go great
6:02 -[Music]
6:04 -so if you've been thinking that you
6:05 -would like extra security on your van um
6:08 -yeah you can have it you don't have to
6:10 -be a a victim or just laying there and
6:12 -wait that your tools are going to be
6:13 -stolen any time and it doesn't cost you
6:15 -your van door either in terms of rust
6:17 -and your van being destroyed um it's
6:19 -just all in the clean down nice quality
6:21 -job that get your van secure that that's
6:23 -all you need you can go to my website
6:26 -www. sussexinstallations do.uk
6:30 -check out the site hopefully it's got
6:31 -the information that you're looking for
6:33 -and um send me an email give me a phone
6:35 -call if you need any advice thanks for
6:37 -watching

Transcript source: the YouTube transcript supplied for this project with minor corrections. Automated transcripts can contain recognition errors and should be checked against the original video.

Page details

Author
Jeff Scott
Publisher
Sussex Installation Team Ltd
Updated
2026-08-27
Primary focus
Van security installation, public education and professional standards
Jeff Scott, founder of Sussex Installation Team Ltd
About the author

Jeff Scott — Van Security Specialist and Industry Educator

Jeff Scott is the founder of Sussex Installation Team Ltd (Sussex Installations). He has fitted vehicle-security systems since 1997, started Sussex Installations in 2003 and has specialised in van security since 2008. His work combines installation, vulnerability research, product design, UK manufacturing and long-term public education.

In 2009, Jeff published the first known YouTube video explaining mechanical key-operated van deadlocks. He has continued documenting van-security products, installation standards, vehicle vulnerabilities and changing attack methods ever since – earning his description as "The OG Van Security YouTuber."

Jeff has supported thousands of professional vehicle aftermarket technicians across the UK and beyond with access to technical information, while actively promoting higher quality installation standards through his trade community ifitstuff.com since 2006.

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