nacitar Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Searching this forum, I've found that in 77, they relocated the window crank and door lock switch, made the doors heavier, made the window regulators smoother, and changed the door striker design. However, I haven't found any real commentary on how you could make an earlier Z accept these improved doors. I imagine the strikers would have to be relocated and such, but was wondering if it would be worth the effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z240 Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Mostly its the strikers that are totally different as you know. You have to remove the old strikers and concoct a way to mount the 77 striker to the door frame in the correct place., and with sufficient strength so that it is safe and will last as it takes a large beating. There is a thick plate behind the pillar that you really need access to modify it to accept the 77 striker. Not easy to get to. One "idea" that a friend had when thinking about this conversion for his 76, (to give credit where due) was to use the existing 3-bolt pattern for the current striker, and embed the 77 striker within a plate that duplicates the flat, non-raised part of the early striker. If you overlay them, the two bolt holes on the 77 striker are well within the distance between the upper and lower bolt holes on the early striker. ie, machine a "hole" the shape of the 77 striker into a 1/8" or so plate with the 3 holes and exterior shape the size of the early striker, and weld them together. Then just bolt this thing to the existing three holes in the door post. This would add no - additional thickness to the striker. This does of course assume that the location of the striker when latched to the 77 door happens to place it "inside" the confines of the bolt pattern of the old striker. Didn't carry our thoughts to this extent but the idea seems easy enough to do, and doesn't require cutting into the post area to get access to the plate in the back, then putting all that back together again. Just "extending" the exterior of the 77 striker by welding similar sized plate to it to get it to cover the 3 existing holes should work no matter where the stiker has to sit unless the new striker "bar" part just happens to fall over one or more of the existing holes when in the "right" spot... Also remember the interior door trim panel is VERY different from earlier models not just where the lock knob comes through. the rear edge is at a steeper rack and is shorter overall to allow room for the embedded latch mechanism. This drastically reduces the number of door panels out there to choose from if you need some later. Good luck! It can be done, we have a member nearby that has a 77 pass. door on his '75. It does "fit"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nacitar Posted August 13, 2012 Author Share Posted August 13, 2012 we have a member nearby that has a 77 pass. door on his '75. It does "fit"... Awesome information, thanks a lot. If you could, run this topic by that member of yours and see if they have anything in particular to say about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradyzq Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I seem to remember, after sandblasting and painting some door hinges from a 280Z for my 240Z, that the early hinges are threaded whereas the later ones are not. This was a looooong time ago, so I may have it backwards, but there is a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nacitar Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 Could anyone with 1977+ doors take some detailed pictures of the lock mechanism for me? I'm not finding any in my searches. Namely, I need pictures to.. 1) Get a context for what part of the door frame the striker is in. 2) A close up of the striker 3) A context for what pat of the door the latch is in. 4) A close up of the latch. I already have my 76 in my garage for comparison; just trying to get an idea of what this will entail, but for the life of me I can't seem to find such pictures. My searches fail, it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nacitar Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 Surely there's someone that owns a 77+ 280z and a camera? =/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z240 Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 (edited) Hang on, I have a 77 door and a latch here, what am I thinking! I can take pictures tonight if I remember. Trying to get baby prepped for a 1400 km weekend excursion so I'm a little distracted. Send me a reminder to z240@shaw.ca Edited August 23, 2012 by z240 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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