Inner rocker/door sill trim questions

Robotsan

Club Member
Hi all,

Trying to piece together the interior of my 76 280z (its bare right now). I thought the 280's had the inner rockers covered in carpet originally, then I remembered I bought some 'Black vinyl door sill trim' when I was ordering parts to come over with the car - which says its for 74-76 280z's. So maybe the carpet on the sides was only for the later models?

First question is - can anyone suggest how it is fitted? Surely the vinyl isn't just glued over the metal directly? Should there be a thicker layer of something else applied first maybe? Otherwise there's these big circular holes in the inner rocker that you could just be accidentally poked through the vinyl. I can't find any decent photos online of how its meant to look. If anyone would be able to take some photos of this area of their 280z that would be a great help.

Second question is - is there meant to be another piece of plastic trim that sits on top of the inner rocker, which sits up against the rubber weatherstrip, but covering the harder, more 'ribbed' inner strip thing?:

Screenshot 2022-09-20 095449.jpg

Here you can see the same piece:

1663664128077.png

And third question is, can you get the harder more ribbed/ridged trim that runs around the inside of the door opening? see the piece outlined in green below:

1663664317545.png
 

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richiep

Club Member
Not a 280Z expert, but the US market 240Zs also had vinyl on the inner sills. It's a heavier duty vinyl than the soft stuff used elsewhere in the interior - for obvious reasons. You wouldn't be poking holes in it by accident! And yes, it was directly glued to the painted metal of the inner sill.
 

Robotsan

Club Member
Not a 280Z expert, but the US market 240Zs also had vinyl on the inner sills. It's a heavier duty vinyl than the soft stuff used elsewhere in the interior - for obvious reasons. You wouldn't be poking holes in it by accident! And yes, it was directly glued to the painted metal of the inner sill.

Ah ok, thanks Richie. I'll have a look at the stuff I got from MSA and offer it up as they say. I'm intrigued about how the edges are dealt with though - do they tuck under the weatherstripping at the top? And at the bottom, I guess the hope is that the edge is covered by the carpets?

If anyone is able to take any photos of that area with the carpets out that would help me a great deal.

I wonder if I should rip all the weatherstripping/door seals off and then fit the vinyl? Then new seals on top?
 

Robotsan

Club Member
I'll second that, it's glued directly on to the metal. I'd use something like this to attach it:


With regards to the ribbed bit you talk about that's part of the door seal I believe so you can replace the whole seal. But then again, like richie, I am not an expert on the 280z so could be wrong.

Thanks Geoff. I don't think I've got the ribbed bit in my Precision weatherstripping kit, but I'll open up the box again to check.
 

uk66fastback

Club Member
That ribbed stuff around the door aperture highlighted in green is called windlace and it’s available from a few places both in the US and the UK and in a good number of colours …
 

Robotsan

Club Member
I'll second that, it's glued directly on to the metal. I'd use something like this to attach it:


With regards to the ribbed bit you talk about that's part of the door seal I believe so you can replace the whole seal. But then again, like richie, I am not an expert on the 280z so could be wrong.

Thanks Geoff. I don't think I've got the ribbed bit in my Precision weatherstripping kit, but I'll open up the box again to check.


Turns out I have got it! I didn't realise it was all one piece - e.g. it's attached to the squidgy door seals in the Precision box. Result. Thanks Geoff.
 

Geoff-R

Club Member
I was going to say, without checking my kit, I couldn't confirm for certain but I was sure it was all one bit, glad you've sorted it though :thumbs:
 

Robotsan

Club Member
That ribbed stuff around the door aperture highlighted in green is called windlace and it’s available from a few places both in the US and the UK and in a good number of colours …

Ah didn't know it had a name! The stuff on the Datsun kind of looks like a 'modern' version of that - e.g. moulded rubber rather than actual material. I guess that stuff is probably on older cars.
 
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