Recently I had an 86 van that had keys that only worked if you fiddled
with and/or flipped them. I pulled one front door handle and took it to
a good lock shop to have them make new keys from the code stamped into
the handle. Here is a link to a photo of the old versus new key. That is
some serious wear! The new keys work every time in every lock.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1100961

Mark