by Gordon Airporte » 17 Oct 2005 20:32
'American' is a brand as well as a nationality. If you were thinking of it as a nationality, with European locks being lever locks, then ... it depends. Usually what you do is remove the tailpiece attached to the back of the cylinder, unlock the lock (with a key, pick, or shim) then push it out from behind with a tool called a 'plug follower', which keep the drivers and springs from shooting all over the place. Then you can move the key pins around. To put it back together, reverse the disassembly proccess.