Just drill a little hole.... (HELP)

[nosto]

While installing the solenoid/popper setup in my shaved door, I tried to follow the instructions that say "Drill a hole in the latch" so I could hook the cable up.

I _did_ manage to dull a new center punch and break 2 new 1/8" drill bits trying to drill through the latch (the part that used to be activated by the outside door handle). The bits hardly made a scratch.

Is this some kind of hardened metal?? Cast??

Is there any trick to drilling this stuff? Heat, maybe?

Is welding a small (washer shaped) attachment possible on this metal or is welding impossible, too?

Thanks,

[XXL]

I'm trying to figure out what you're trying to connect to. The latch mechanism in the top rear of the door has a small hole already in it (it attaches via a metal rod to the interior door release lever). If you're shaving your doors, you can pull the rod out and use the hole that went into. You'll have to pull horizontally across the door to get it to pop, or you can use a cantilever and pull down, or...

Here's a diagram of the cantilever I did in my doors.



Kenneth

[nosto]

Thanks for the reply, XXL.

(I really need a digital camera; still had 10 picts on the roll to use up before I got this one developed.)

Anyhow, this is what I had in mind when I asked the question about drilling the latch. I ended up welding a small piece, with a hole in it, to the end of the door release arm (kinda hard to see in the pic.) I saw the cantilever a few weeks ago, was going to use it, but this just fell together.

The relative positions are pretty much how they would be mounted in the door. No clearence problems, low parts count, still use original rod to activate door from inside.

Now WHERE do I mount these door poppers?????

[XXL]

So you're mounting the solenoid on the back edge of the door and pulling down? This is actually the best solution IF you can get enough leverage on the pull from that direction. That takes a heavy solenoid with a relatively long pull. It's tough to tell what kind you've got there but it seems fairly big. I'm not trying to throw a wet blanket on your work, but don't be surprised if you have some trouble getting it to pop (unless you've already tested it and it worked, in which case I can just shut my mouth! ). I've found that the best leveraged pull is when you put the motor on the same horizontal plane as the original inside handle was. The problem with this is that there is not much room to clear the window regulator .

Keep us posted.

Kenneth