This article will attempt to guide you through the process of removing a door lock and replacing it with a new one. This is something that I only just had to do, but was lucky enough to have learned about it online so I thought I would pass it on.

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This article assumes that the mortice lock has already been removed from inside the door itself (i.e. by removing the cam and fixing screws on the back). It also assumes that you have a replacement lock of the same design (i.e. with a similar profile cam) and know how to fit it into the door – if not, then take it to someone who does!

First, you need to remove the latch or deadbolt. This needs to be done by releasing the return spring, which is usually fixed with a screw on the edge of the door frame. The latch can then simply be pulled out although this may require some force – it is then possible to see the end of the lock’s cam behind it (note that not all mortice locks have cams).

Once you are able to get at the end of the cam, drill through it until you are making a hole in either side of it. You should also see two holes in each side of where you drilled through – these are dowels that help hold the cylinder in place. Drill completely through them so that they protrude on both sides of what will become your new lock body when it is removed.

With the dowels drilled through, you should be able to just pull out the old cylinder by grabbing hold of it with pliers or a similar tool – sometimes you may need to use brute force but make sure not to damage either cam or your new cylinder!

Place the new cylinder into the door and push it as far as possible into position (you may need to adjust its cam profile if it doesn’t fit). It should protrude from the back of the door by about 2-3cm.

Using a drill, make two shallow holes on either side of where you will be putting your screws for fixing it in place – don’t go all the way through though!

Remove the cylinder and put some wood glue around each hole before carefully pressing down on one side of your new lock body so that they line up. Leave to dry overnight.

Before we can fix our new lock body in place, we must first fix back on top of this what was previously removed from inside the door. First, put in the dowels that we made earlier a few millimeters into the corresponding holes from when it was removed.

The mortice lock can now be pushed back into place and screwed down using four new screws – these need to sit through both the door frame and our replacement body so make sure you drill deep enough!

Push your new cylinder in as far as possible before putting each screw back in making sure that they are all lined up – do this one at a time because if you get it wrong then you may have to drill out your holding dowels again!

Finally, replace the cam on the inside of your door by pushing it onto its spindle and tightening down its fixing screw with a flat head screwdriver.

Your new lock is now fully installed!