[VAC] Re: Deadbolt installation.

[D Welch <jtdjtd@xxxxxxxx>]

Hi Jim,

I'm going to tell the deadbolt story for anyone who wants to hear it.

The very words suicide door sound like something off the video of worse
trailer wrecks, so I decided that hoping I could fix the ?Bargman that
came on my '73 Ambassador was foolish.

I read up on it in the Archives, and went to Home Despot and bought a
stainless dead bolt, keyed one side only. ?$14.95. It has an adjustable
throw ( how far the bolt sticks out when it's locked) I spent about 2
weeks reading the directions which are for a wooden door, and feeling
incompetant. Also, not wanting to drill a hole in the Millenium
Falcon...

Then I got up my courage and bought a door installtion kit that had a 1"
speed bit and a 2 1/8 hole saw. I spend an hour holding the thing up to
the trailer, wrapping the paper template around and trying to get up my
courage. Finally I drilled the 2 1/8 hole on the inside and outside (
drilled pilot hole right through both to line them up) Ouch. Then I
began to drill the hole  for the bolt to come out of the wall into the
door opening. At this point I realized that the door frame had
structural nooks and crannies inside that I would have to work around or
file away so the bolt mecanism would come close enough to the opening to
work. It was pretty much of a file and test business, and there is no
guarantee that the nooks and crannies I found would be the same in other
years.  I followed the directions and made a mark on the door through
the pilot hole on the bolt opening so they would line up. 

First big problem, the facing bevel for the lock on the outside is too
big and would hang over onto the door frame, leaving it tilted drunkenly
and begging to be a leak. So I went down to the shop and ground off
maybe 3/8's of an inch to flatten one side of the bevel so it would sit
squarely on the aluminum skin and not hang up on the door trim. Good, OK

The center mark for the hole on the door is way over toward the inside
of the door, so drilling a hole for the bolt would wreck the door and
not hold. In the archives, grinding down the bolt on one side to make
the hold in the door less damaging and huge was mentioned, so back to
the grinder. Probably, I ground off ????1/4 ", I was pretty close to the
machine bolt that runs up the middle of the bolt. Then I drilled a ?3/4
" hole , ie smaller than the one the directions called for, about the
dia of the fattest part of the ground down bolt. At this point I just
filed away at the hole until it was the same size and shape as the bolt
and the bolt went in cleanly. Home stretch. The face plate that alligns
the bolt as it is coming out of the wall is thick and has bumps and ears
that are in the way. I ground down the interior plate until just the two
mounting holes were left, and ground the stainless cover plate's puckers
off the back of its holes (this won't make sense unless you have the
lock in your hand) Then I riveted the plates to the holes in the door
frame. Some Vulkem around the big outside hole and line it all up and
screw it together.  The hole in the door has no plate on it.

Whew! It works and looks good. I took Pix, not developed yet.

Hmm. Next time I do something nutty like this, I'm going to take lots
of  pix and then maybe fewer words.

Daisy