Interior door panels

[FuManchu]

Allright, this might be a simpleton's question but I was wondering if anyone might have had a similar experience. This is really frustrating, I am trying to remove my interior door panels to install a new lock set but the screws are so stripped out that I can't get the last three off. The panel itself is in good condition so I don't want to damage it. Does anyone know of a way to remove this crap. I own some drill bits that are supposed to work on this kind of thing but they don't, they are making it worse.

 

[Seon]

Use a drill and bit that's slightly small in diameter than the screw head. Drill the head off, remove the door panel the use visegrips to remove the screw from the door. If the drilled out screws will not back off, use a smaller diameter drill bit and drill the remaining screw out. Take it nice and easy. Worse case is that you'll have to use the next larger size screws for those three scew holes.

 

[FuManchu]

Thanks Seon,
I'm gonna give that a go, it occured to me to try something like this but I wasn't sure if I was taking a chance on destroying anything around the screw holes. Thanks again...

 

[drabo]

Also put some penitrant like PB or WD40 on it and let it sit for a while. Also before drill out the screw heads try using a impact driver to loosen the screws. It is kind of like a screwdriver that you hit with a hammer. Did the trick for me.


Pete