[HO455]

Getting the lock out is pretty easy in good straight gate. My spare gate was more difficult due to how much the interior sheet metal was pushed in. It had the lock mount pinched and I had to pry it loose with a small pry bar. I don't have a photo of the spare gate to show how bad it is pushed in. You should be able to get an idea from the first photo if you look at the top edge. It's similar to what we've all seen on badly abused tailgates. The good gate shows what looks like something heavy got dropped or slid into the gate where the circles are and the sheet metal is pushed in. (2nd photo) When I removed the lock mount the sheet metal dropped about 1/8" and that was enough to keep the mount from popping back in place.

The spare gate dropped in about a 1/4" and that was too much to alow me to reinstall the mount. I will have to figure out a way to pull the sheet metal upwards before the lock mount will fit back in place. In the 2nd photo see the yellow lines and arrow that indicate the minimum distance between the interior and exterior sheet metal that will allow the mount to fit. I'm pretty sure if I am unable to get the interior sheet metal to pull up on the spare gate I can elongate the mounting holes and grind the lock mount (or the tab it sits on) enough to allow me to reinstall the lock. It may also require that the top edge of the mount be ground down so the cover plate will sit flush.

I guess that I'm saying that you should take a close look at your gate to see if it's been pushed in before removing the lock. Mine looked pretty good (Last photo) so I didn't think there would be a problem even after I took the spare gate apart.

After writing this it also seems that before removing the 2 lock mount screws completely it would be a good idea to loosen them two turns or so and the see if you can wiggle the mount. If not and it looks like the screws are hard against the lower edge of the holes in the lock mount you should expect the sheet metal to move down when the screws are removed.

Once again a long winded post but hopefully I was able to convey the idea.