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It's time to drill a few holes, so get out the drill & the #19 bit: first carefully run the drill through the mount hole closest to the actuator arm on the new actuator. This insures that the actuator will move freely (but not sloppy) on the 8-32 machine screw that it will mount on.

Then measure down 3 3/ 4" from the bottom edge of the door latch and mark, then measure in 1 1/4" in from the edge of the door and mark again.

Click on picture to enlarge

Use a center punch to mark the intersection of the two lines and to dimple the metal to keep the drill from skating off center. Reach inside the door and turn the actuator mount so that the arms are parallel to the ground. The reason for doing this is to keep from breaking the actuator mount when the drill bit breaks through and you are still pushing on the drill. Drill one #19 hole as a pilot or starter hole. Next chuck up the 1/2" bit, and measure the distance from the end of the chuck to 3/4" from the end of the drill bit. Take the 1/2" tubing and cut it off to the same size, slide the tubing over the drill bit. If you used copper tubing, mash the end closest to the chuck so that the tubing can't fall off. The plastic tubing (my preference) stays put without any extra effort.

Click on picture to enlarge

This is your drill stop, and will keep the drill from pulling the entire bit into the hole and breaking the actuator mount. Do not omit this step, because if you do, you will break the actuator mount  just like I did. 

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This page last updated 11/26/02                                                        
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