screws don't go in far enough

[World's Largest Leprechaun]

Recently the casing on my storm door's inside latch cracked, leaving it held by only one screw. I bought a Wright prefabricated latch to replace it.

The outside and inside pieces are held together with machine screws that pass through holes in the inside piece and into metal sleeves in the outside piece. I cannot drive the screws into the sleeves far enough to hold the pieces together firmly. (No, the spindle is not too long.) The sleeves don't seem to be threaded very far. The latch is usable but it's loose and it rattles. The kit comes with some shorter screws (unmatched) but they're too short to reach through the door.

How would you handle this problem? Set washers under the screw heads? Return the latch as defective?

-:- "To what do I owe the honor of this unexpected visit, Lord Ruthven . . . alias Lyford Pemberton!"

H. C. Artmann, "Tom Parker, International Detective"

[Mike in Arkansas]

Take a hack saw and cut a little off the end of the longer screws or just file them down a bit.

[toolguy]

Agreed. Or hack a little off the metal sleeves. Whichever is better for your situation. If you shorten the screws there is a simple trick to get them threaded properly. If you have a nut that fits the screws, put it on and screw it past where you need to make your cut. Cut the screw and then back off the nut. This re-taps the screw good enough to use right away in your door.

[A deaf heart, a loose liver]

Thank you both for your kind advice. I now have another problem.

The holes for the old latch were spaced wrong for the new, so I had to redrill all but one of the holes. What's a good way to plug the old holes? Duct tape would be adequate but ugly.

-:- Nothing changes, But nothing's the same.... Dance and love, Eat and fight At the DISCO, Disco Delight!

--Bob Burden

[Steven and Gail Peterson]

insert a dowel or fill with plastic wood (or wood putty)

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Paint the duct tape.