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Hello everyone. 

I have a '75 280z with mismatched locks. Have been trying to find pins (wafers) to re-key but it turned out to be quite impossible. Do any wafers from newer cars fit our locks? Any ideas?

Thanks in advance. 

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Thanks. 

That was the first thing I did, but I haven't found a locksmith that would sell me some parts. 2 guys that I spoke with only wanted to rebuild/rekey for about $60 per lock. I have the locks apart and just need some parts, so $60 seems a little excessive when I see wafer kits for other cars being sold for $20-$25.   

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Guys, The ignition lock has pins. The door and hatch have wafers. Trying to replace pins and wafers on old locks is false economy. The main part of the cylinder wears over the years with the key sliding in and out. Even if you replace the pins and wafers to match your key, the lock will still have wear in it possibly allowing other keys to open the lock. You would be better off just buying a replacement group of keyed alike cylinders off ebay or your local Locksmith. I have replaced the pin cylinder in the ignition of my 1976 260z with a wafer cylinder to keep all of my locks keyed alike. I have seen keyed alike kits on ebay.

I spent 30 years as a locksmith and trying to repair worn locks really is a waste of time and good money because they won't last.

Hope this helps.

David.

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  • 1 year later...
On 4/13/2018 at 6:41 PM, Enzo250gto said:

Hi Guys, The ignition lock has pins. The door and hatch have wafers. Trying to replace pins and wafers on old locks is false economy. The main part of the cylinder wears over the years with the key sliding in and out. Even if you replace the pins and wafers to match your key, the lock will still have wear in it possibly allowing other keys to open the lock. You would be better off just buying a replacement group of keyed alike cylinders off ebay or your local Locksmith. I have replaced the pin cylinder in the ignition of my 1976 260z with a wafer cylinder to keep all of my locks keyed alike. I have seen keyed alike kits on ebay.

I spent 30 years as a locksmith and trying to repair worn locks really is a waste of time and good money because they won't last.

Hope this helps.

David.

Amen to that... I've been doing locks for the last 25 or so myself, have rebuild many a lock, but the cylinders wear out LONG before the tumblers do in most cases.  Couldn't have said it better myself...and all I do is automotive and motorcycle locks.

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  • 6 months later...
On 7/24/2019 at 5:46 AM, Warren said:

Amen to that... I've been doing locks for the last 25 or so myself, have rebuild many a lock, but the cylinders wear out LONG before the tumblers do in most cases.  Couldn't have said it better myself...and all I do is automotive and motorcycle locks.

Dear Gents (Enzo250gto, Warren or anyone),

 

...and I thought, that I had just found a solution for my problem, but now you are telling me it's no good...

 

I have just recently bought a Datsun 280ZX turbo, automatic, T-top 1983 without any keys. Also, the drivers side handle+lock was missing, but the previous owner had got one from the net. However, I think it is not the correct one, since it does not have the switch for the power locks, which my car is supposed to have. My car is stored far away from where I live, so I cannot really check anything easily. Waiting for the spring to get it to my garage... 

 

Anyhow, I've got no keys for the car what so ever. The ignition is working with a screw driver =( The ignition lock is fairly easy to find. Either as a whole, or just the locks cylinder, depending how badly the screw driver has damaged the body of the lock. It's the doors, hatch and also the tank cap & glove compartment locks, which are difficult to find. I thought I could solve the problem by ordering a bunch of tumblers (e.g. https://hemitchell.com/collections/auto-keying/products/datsun-x-y-series-keying-kit-b-item-asp-a-16-106) and re-keying all the locks. However, I do not yet know which type of tumblers each lock uses and I have not done this job ever before. I am sure, that it can be done though. You stated, that this would be the wrong way to go in the long run, I that's the last thing I want to do, i.e., extra work with bad results.

 

Could you please point me to the right direction, being professionals of the trade? Is there any place where I could by the locks, lock cylinders or find some other long lasting solution to my problem? I would really prefer to have 1-2 keys for all the locks, instead of one for each... Your input would be highly appreciated 😃

 

Any pictures of the lock cylinders and/or correct tumblers would be useful to me - thanks.

 

PS: There is a set of locks for sale on ebay for 777USD, but I find that a bit excessive. Or maybe I just haven't really yet understood the cost of having one of these cars ;-)

 

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