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I have a few questions that I'm hoping some of our CZCC veterans can answer: Door Panels: The parts manual shows a change made to the Door Panel Assemblies (lhs and rhs) starting in 71-10. Can anyone comment on the design change(s) made? (Note that the upper/lower Hinges are not considered to be part of the Door Panel Assemblies) Door Hinges: The parts manual shows a change made, starting in 72-07. Oddly, though, the change is noted only for the upper hinges. The lower hinges are shown as staying unchanged. This seems odd, because I believe that the design change included adding a revised travel limiter link with a detent, so that the doors would have two opening positions: fully-opened, and half-opened. The travel-limiter link, however, is part of the lower hinge. And the Nissan 'updates' document that Carl Beck posted a couple of days ago indicated that the detent feature was added to the driver's door only. Is there a mistake in the parts manual, or am I missing something? Lock Cylinders and Keys: At some point in its development, the S30's locking system switched from a 2-key set-up to a single-key arrangement (I thought this took place as part of the launch of 1972 models, but maybe it was actually when the 'early-to-late' transition happened during MY-71). In any case, it would seem that the design of the lock cylinders would have been revised as part of this change. However, the parts manuals shows no changes to the parts numbers for the door and tailgate lock cylinders over the complete span of the 240 model. The steering column lock assembly (c/w lock cylinder), on the other hand, shows a change in 70-10 (why?) and then nothing until 73-07. Can anyone explain how all of this works?

I bought my Z in October and have been wrenching on it since. From the start, both doors didnt latch properly which I suspect the previous owner is to blame. Rotating the cylinder locks it into place when you spin it by hand but when you close the door, it doesnt latch secure. Ive adjusted the striking latch on the body and lubricated all moving parts but had no luck. Could the door alignment be partially to blame? After comparing some photos of door / trim spacing, my door gap seems too large. Also the lock mechanism doesnt engage either (tested with door shut). Also the driver side window doesnt stay in the track. The front half of the window (closest to front) dips down and binds when coming up. When I pull the window straight back towards the rear of the car and crank it up, it usually pops out and binds elsewhere. The window rolls down easily enough. Ive adjusted the bolts securing the window mechanism but also with no luck. Any help would be appreciated, Thanks

I happened to be looking at my '70 Z's door striker plates (aka 'door catch') the other day and noticed, for the first time, that they're not as simple in design as I thought. It had always been my impression that they're just one-piece metal stampings. When I turned one of them over, I discovered that this isn't the case at all. They're actually pretty complicated in design and construction, consisting of: Main stamping Cushion Block (rubber molding with a metal insert) Mounting Pin & Spring for Cushion Block Mounting Boss (metal stamping) for Cushion block I'm not really sure how the cushioning block arrangement is supposed to work. Any efforts to make it pivot on its mounting pin have been unsuccessful, so I'm not even sure if it's supposed to move in the first place (but then, why is there a spring? and why does it appear that there's a metal tab on the mounting boss to set a 'rest' position?). Note: In the third picture, I levered the 'leg' of the cushion block away from the striker plate surface to show the amount of flexibility it has (i.e. the leg's displaced position wasn't generated by the cushion block pivoting on its pin). Normally, the 'leg' rests on the inner surface of the striker plate, as shown in picture #2. In addition, I'm not sure whether either of my striker plates has a fully-intact cushion block. As you'll see from the last picture, the cushion block for my left-door striker plate has broken off up near the pivot pin. I'm not even certain that the cushion block on my right-side unit is still its original length. Notice how the rubber has worn off on the 'intact' cushion block to expose the metal underneath. This would be the place where the latching lobe impacts and sits when the door is latched closed. So, two questions: 1. Does anybody have a picture of a NOS striker plate that shows what the cushion block looks like when it's new? 2. Can anyone explain how the cushion block is supposed to work? (i.e. Is it supposed to pivot and, if so, how much? If not, why is there a spring?)

I've been trying to source the circled part for 240z door locks to no avail for a while via craigslist, ebay, etc for months. It's the piece that clips to the lock cylinder in the door and connects to the linkage rod. The ones I have (being soft metal) are completely shot and allow the cylinder to rotate without locking to door. I really need a passenger side one more than anything and figured I'd reach out and see if anyone has one laying around that's in good shape and not too worn (or knows where to get a new one). Any and all leads are very much appreciated! Chris

i just brought home a 1973 240z. i was parked outside for about 1 year. i got it to start and it runs good. now starts as soon as you turn the key. though im having some issues with a few things. the glove box is locked and i didnt get the key for it. the hatch lock wont unlock.(i broke my spare key trying to unlock it) so i need guidance opening those and making the brakes stronger.(barely any stopping power) i would like to take out the emissions control crap if i can. the dash lights do not light up. thank you in advance

I just bought my first pair of project cars, (two '76 280Zs and I am PSYCHED about them!! ) and both doors on both cars are locked from the outside, but not the inside. I can climb through the hatch and open the doors fine from the inside, and the lock isn't down inside, but once I exit the car and close the door, it is locked! is this some kind of safety feature? is there a way to undo it? or is something broken/stuck? i haven't tried using the key to unlock it (just thought of that, whoops); would that help? (maybe i should have tried that xD). any help would be appreciated, thanks!!

So, working on the project 280z today, I grabbed my key and turned the lock. It immediately felt like a weird turn of the key, like the key had kind of fallen out a bit mid turn. Afterwards I realized that this key (got 6 with the car) is a bit smaller than the key I normally use. Must be an older key, or a door key or something. Oops. After the turn I was able to pull the key out easily. It goes back into the lock fully and easily too. The 'real' key doesn't really fit in the lock now, but the smaller one I used goes all the way in. Getting it to OFF though is another matter. It's stuck in ON. Cannot turn it. Had to take apart the ignition area and pull the plug to turn the car off. The previous owner luckily had not broken the anti-theft screws, so I've got the ignition lock out of the car now to work on it. How can I get this lock to turn again? Has anyone completely pulled out the tumblers before? What's the secret to getting them out of the casing?

The rear hatch button on my 72 240z suddenly doesn't work, and I can't get the latch to open. I shot it full of grease, and will continue to keep working it, but I now can't remember whether the keyhole is vertical or horizontal when unlocked. Can someone take a peek at their Z and help me out? Thanks! DT