Drilling through aluminium door

[stealthwolf]

The back door looks like it was installed a quite a few years ago. This is the style of door handle:

I've replaced the barrel with an avocet euro cylinder and the sashlock has been upgraded to a modern yale/union one but the door handle is still old fashioned.

I can't seem to find a euro handle that will fit as a straight swap. The modern ones are much taller and hence I'm faced with the prospect of making my own holes.

Is there anything I need to look out for whilst drilling into an aluminium door? Can I use my Titan HSS drillbit?

 

[Burnerman]

Sure, a new HSS jobber drill will be fine.....centre punch the position first.
If you are going to use a self tapping screw, don't drill the hole too big - have a go on some scrap material first. You can always increase the size.
Make sure you can't make contact with any glass
John

 

[stealthwolf]

Make sure you can't make contact with any glass
John

That's my concern. I don't want to damage the door/glass/seals etc. The current holes are 155mm apart. The modern handles seem to vary from 180-250mm.

 

[crank39]

What is the pz measurement of the handle?

 

[stealthwolf]

@crank39 47-48mm

 

[Gazman16]

Glass will go approx 20-25mm in behind the ali so you should be fine on that.
Biggest thing to watch out for is that your not screwing into the gearbox. As long as the new holes are further from lock than the existing ones you should be fine. If they are closer I would check the gearbox first.

 

[stealthwolf]

@Gazman16 I imagine gearbox relates to multipoint locks? This is a simple sashlock. The door really needs to be updated to a multipoint or similar. The new holes will be well above and below the ends of the sashlock. I just need to make sure I don't hit anything else.