Alfa 33 petrol caps

[colcol]

Recently while filling up with cheap petrol, because it was the second thursday, the petrol cap on the 33 had a malfunction, the locking mechanism broke and because i am a good boy the gods decided to break in the 'unlock' mode so i was able to unscrew the cap and fuel up the 33.
The 33 petrol cap that is the same as a 75 has a 55 mm thread and screws onto the tank, the cap is solid at this point and to stop the cap being removed and petrol being siphoned off or worse enemies adding unspecified additives to your tank, then you turn the key and the cap spins so it can't be unscrewed and then to unsrew it you turn the key and the cap locks up and unscrews.
I decided to have a look at it when i got home and started by spraying it with silicone spray but this didn't work so i pulled the cap apart and found the reason for its failure was that the lock barrel was completely corroded, the springs were broken and corroded so overnight i soaked the barrel in WD-40.
The next day i checked the barrel and it was cactus all the keys, latches, springs, tumblers and housing were corroded too much to repair, but being a bower bird i always have a spare or ten of everything so i pulled apart my spare cap and it was corroded but not as bad as the 1985 Brevevato, the spare one was a 1995 Fiat Alfa Lancia cap.
I jumped on Ebay and found a no name locking cap in the UK with 2 keys for a 33/75 for $13 + $13 delivery, then found a Valeo brand cap for $20 + $6 delivery from Latvia, i purchased the cap from Latvia as it was a brand name, will let you know how it goes.
I have always lubricated the petrol cap lock barrel with graphite powder or silicone spray as you don't want to use WD-40 as this will attract dirt and cause premature wear,.....this was a mistake on my behalf.
I beleive you should use WD-40 squirted through the little spring loaded door as it will stop the lock barrel from corroding and any excess lubricant will find its way into the fuel tank, just the same as the fuel tank when full will have petrol sloshing around in the petrol cap washing away any lubricant as there is a little weep hole for the lock barrel, go and squirt some WD-40 into the lock now before its too late, and uncle col will tell you about WD-40, but at another time, Colin.