I have been meaning to post this for a while. I bought a hood lock from Slingmods when they first became available. Immediately after installing it, I was able to remove it without the key. I hooked two fingers behind it, and jiggled it while trying to pull it off. I also had my thumb against the chrome key cylinder. I realized that it came off because my thumb pushing on the cylinder while I jiggled it, was causing the latch part of the cylinder to retract back into the body of the lock, which is what happens when you turn the key.
I took it apart, and realized that the bore that the chrome cylinder is pressed into has too loose of a tolerance in regard to the depth. The cylinder being able to move back and forth, was causing the tapered latch to catch onto the opening which the latch comes thru the body of the lock. With each jiggle it retracts a little bit into the body. Pressing the cylinder ensures that the latch cannot rebound and extend itself because it is caught on the tapered surface of the latch, and walks itself up the taper until it is retracted just enough to pull it off. I did some math, and placed a 1mm thick o-ring down into the bore, before pushing the chrome cylinder back into place. This keeps the cylinder from being pushed into the body
To remove the cylinder, use the key to "open" the lock, then press down the retracted latch with a small screwdriver, while pulling the cylinder out of the body. Place a 1mm thick o-ring, with a diameter close to the bore diameter, down into the bore and then push the cylinder back into the body until it snaps into place.
