I'm putting the door hinges on my '72 and noted that the upper hinges have thick plates that go on the inside of the body. However, neither of my cars seems to have equivalent plates for the lower door hinges -- even though the through-holes on the body are quite large. Those hinges' bolts seem to be secured on the interior side just by large washers.

I've looked at the S30 microfiche files and can't see any indication of even the upper bolster plates, much less the lower ones. Just confusing diagrams. For instance what are Parts 31 and 32 supposed to be?

I think these might be a good idea, but want to get the opinion of this league of extraordinary gentle(wo)men. Now would be the time for me to fab some from 1/4" steel plate.

31 and 32 are optional spacers.

Door shims to help align the door and fender edges.

OK, those are shims that go between the hinge and the door shell. I've never seen them on my cars. Has anyone ever seen them? I asked my local Nissan dealer to see if they're still available and was told all four parts are NLA.

What I'm talking about are ~1/4" plates that go on the inside of the chassis (in those cramped pockets, especially the upper ones), through the chassis wall and get bolted to a door hinge. I can't find a reference to the ones my car has for the upper hinge. Am I the only person who has them? My car is a unicorn in some respects.

I suspect these plates have to do with supporting the weight of an open door without eventually distorting the chassis sheet metal. There would be an outward force on the chassis metal for the upper hinge and an inward force for the lower hinge. I would have expected that if such a bolstering plate was thought necessary for the upper hinge, there would be similar plates for the lower hinge.

Is it possible that with the lower hinge point being closer to the more substantial metal of the rocker panel and chassis bottom there is less chance of flexing and plates there weren't necessary?

Edited August 15Aug 15 by Seppi72
Updated with info on part availability.

I don't believe I had plates. I used bolts with the thick washers for everything.

You wouldn't need the shims unless the door gaps are bad

Thanks, @Patcon. I certainly don't need more work to do putting this car back together so I'll probably just use some doubled-up fender washers for the lower bolts.

The shims look like these, I have some on my car to pull the door out some to match the fender line. These do not look like the CPM diagram either.

I have seen these plates in those pockets you speak of, but only on the 280Z's They are threaded and the hinge bolts to them through the body.

Oh, I do have some of those shims. I didn't know where they were to be used. I'll clean and yellow-zinc plate them and have them ready to go if needed. Thanks, @Terrapin Z

As for the bolster plates, mine are unthreaded. The threaded portion of the assembly on the door hinges. Trying to get bolts lined up inside those upper door pockets is a royal PITA, especially if you don't have slim fingers - and I don't.

While the whole assembly nominally only needs a 25 or 30 mm bolt length, I ended up using spare 40 and 50 mm bolts to make engaging the hinge threads easier and then cut them off nearly flush. Once I have the doors aligned, I'll sequentially back each bolt off a bit and apply blue thread locker even though there's a lock washer at the other end.