Gav, I believe a door lock is a more complex solution as you would need to drill a hole (71 and later here) in the door and add (weld, drill, fab etc)  a loop to the body side where the latch would engage. Also sourcing the keyed latch is a issue here.

 

 

 Gavin

 The early doors with the turn knob had a key lock? News to me. Do you have any extra locking knobs or are they extremely rare. I have an early door with the hole. I always wondered why Datsun didn't include a lock set in the knob. Now that I know they did, I wonder why it wasn't included with the U.S. models. Maybe Australia's image, at the time, influenced their decision. Were there any other countries that you know of that got the locking door?

I think they may have been available in Japan. I believe I have seen them for auction there

My 1971 Fairlady Z has a locking gas door.

Chuck

 

1 hour ago, cbuczesk said:

My 1971 Fairlady Z has a locking gas door.

Chuck

 

 USA model? Or are you referring to a real Fairlady.  My early 71 has a turn knob but no lock.

Always thought the locks on the gas doors look hellaciously ugly.  I really like zKars solution, but I'm tapped out for S30 spending this year.  Maybe in the Spring, if any are left

17 hours ago, Mark Maras said:

 Gavin

 The early doors with the turn knob had a key lock? News to me. Do you have any extra locking knobs or are they extremely rare. I have an early door with the hole. I always wondered why Datsun didn't include a lock set in the knob. Now that I know they did, I wonder why it wasn't included with the U.S. models. Maybe Australia's image, at the time, influenced their decision. Were there any other countries that you know of that got the locking door?

I'm pretty sure the lock was on all S30Z models sold in Australia, so not particularly rare. Although I don't have any spares.

Here are some photos of an early AU delivered 240z I'm restoring. You can see the early style key, the locking mechanism and the bracket it locks with.

 Nice. It looks like it was keyed to match the doors and the hatch. I like it. Much cleaner look than the protruding twist knob. Is everything the same on the body and the door the same as US models except the lockset?

19 hours ago, Mark Maras said:

 Nice. It looks like it was keyed to match the doors and the hatch. I like it. Much cleaner look than the protruding twist knob. Is everything the same on the body and the door the same as US models except the lockset?

I assume so, but have never seen the US fuel door (or taken much notice of the differences). That's why I took those photos so you could compare.

That gas hatch door look looks exactly like a door lock cylinder. Only thing unique is the bracket on the end that engages the bracket on the body. Should be dead easy to duplicate that. 

So does anyone have a door lock cylinder laying around and an early gas door to see if it fits without reworking the door?

1 hour ago, Patcon said:

So does anyone have a door lock cylinder laying around and an early gas door to see if it fits without reworking the door?

 I don't have door locks to look at BUT the hatch lockset EXCLUDING the removable offset tab from a late 71 is the same length as the early 71 turn knob INCLUDING the offset tab. Conclusion, a fabricated straight tab on the hatch lockset (Easy Peasy IMO) would work with the original wire catch on the body.

 A bit of blacksmithing on the ends of the appropriate ga. wire for the catch (perhaps a pc. of welding rod) a couple of holes and screws or pop rivets to hold the catch in place would be easy on later Zs. The only problem on later Zs is the lack of a hole. This "easy peasy" mod is based on the assumption that the diameter of the hatch lockset is the same or smaller than the orig. gas lockset and won't interfere with the cap. I think the locksets were all the same diameter.

Edited August 14, 20168 yr by Mark Maras