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'78 Doors on a '71


alsil

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Al, I tried switching window mechanisms last year with a 280Z door (I have an early 260Z) and as I remember, the door was different in several respects. The latch was different and so were all the internal guts. Better quality though...

 

Unless I am completely off here, they are not compatible. Anyone else care to post an opinion?

 

David

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Thanks, but that's not quite what I meant. I have a '71, and a '78 parts donor. I was going to just adapt the 280z door panels and armrests I have to the 240z door, but I have the full door, so I was just going to bolt it to the car. I know they have different internals, and the construction is a bit different, but I want to know if I can unbolt the 280 door and bolt it to the 240. I will use all the stock 280 internals. Sorry, probably should have been clearer.

Thanks,

AL

 

 

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http://zcar.netdojo.com

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Guest Fast Frog

Aside from determining if the "hang" is the same (will the 78 directly bolt on), another consideration is the latching mechanism. The 78 latch setup is diff from the 240 latch set up. You might have to remove the 240 latch receiver from the door sill and fab the 78 latch receiver onto the 240 door sill.

 

Also, the rear half of a 240 is wider than the 280Z. You'd have to check where the widening difference begins after the door, or is the 240 door part of that wider configuration.

 

(I've had a 72 240 and I still have 2 76Zs and a 78Z.)

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Al, it is I who should be more clear: I understand what you are trying to do, I looked at the door assemblies last year, asking myself, "could I just swap the doors from one car to the other?" At the time they appeared to be too different and had different latch assemblies. As Fast Frog said, you could possibly swap doors, but would have to also swap the latch mechanism from the parent car at the very least. And to make a long answer even longer, the only way to tell if the 280Z door fits in its external dimensions is to measure and compare each door. Sorry I can't give you the direct answer you are looking for--its been too long.

 

David

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  • 4 weeks later...
Guest Anonymous

i don't know how much this will help but i have a 76 280 and i took a 74 260 door and bolted it on my car. the only difference i found was that where the door met the fender the door stuck out about a 1/8 inch. i swapped door hinges and used the 260 hinge and it lined up great. other problem is at the back of the door at the bottom it had a 1/8 inch bulge. then noticed i had to used the 260 latch. long story short it could work but keep all the mechanical from the donor car and reuse it.

i know when ordering door skins they classify them in 3 categories. 70-73, 74-76, 77-i don't remember. well you get the idea. hope it helps. later, chris

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Guest KraZ4spd

Also another thing to consider is the weight. The later doors are considerably heavier than the earlier ones. Some thing to think about when it comes to speed.

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