77 308 GTB door locking mechanism?

Where ?

Never even heard of a suggestion of any cars with factory-fitted power locking

Maybe some after-market fitment as part of remote alarms

 

My later 84 QV has the central locking you mention which was factory fitted but I'm not sure if if was fitted to earlier cars.

 

No, the early 308s I have owned were mechanical door locks.

No electric until the (much later) cars......

 

No worries..

They could not even make the windows work, so, the locks would definately be "a bridge too far"!!!

LOL!

The mechanical locks are actually quite interesting, there's a "spring assist" that goes in both directions, off the lock cylinder.
It makes them op up" and "pop down" a little more aggresively than the actual cylinder rotation.

Crazy stuff...If I had not crushed a door in an accident, I would not know all these things..

 

+1 on that comment.

 

Well, they probabaly worked in 1977.

JRV would make me laugh..
"I don't know Alan, but it was running good, when it left Maranello!!"

And then we would fix something or other...I miss that guy.
Cranky, but a wicked sense of humor.

 

True, but that "spring assist" is integral to the large latch mechanism and not the lock cylinder. The only spring external to the latch mechanism is the one that pulls the outside door handle back vertically after releasing it.

 

Something interesting I recently noticed is that the external lock cylinder (the round bezel in the outer door skin) is positioned about a 1/2" further toward the front of the car in the QV 308 & 328 than in the earlier cars.
I'm assuming it had something to do with adopting the electric lock system.

 

We're talking 1977, power locks were the new rage on Cadillacs. I don't think Mercedes had them at that point. A 1977 Italian sports car? You're dreaming.

 

Possibly, or the redesign of the door handle itself.

The last tidbit of wisdom is the mounting of the lock escutcheon, on the outside of the door.

The early 308s it was "surface mounted", but at some point, it was "Frenched in" flush.
Not sure when it occured but I have had new doors sent in for replacement, that had the wrong style recess and had to be modified.

 

I can say with as much confidence as anyone can about Italian cars that in 1977 power door locks of any kind were not factory fitted to any 308.

That said when I got my 308 I wanted to do away with the hassle of locking and un-locking using the door locks and fitted keyless entry to my doors. To do this I used generic power door lock actuators (available on eBay) and a Viper keyless alarm system that I mounted under the passenger front foot rest. The whole installation was super easy as there is lots of room in the doors and no cutting of any kind is required. The whole setup is 100% reversible and has worked flawlessly for the past 14 years. Look on eBay under 'power door lock kit' and you can get everything including remotes and the actuators for less than $30; crazy cheap.

The most trick bit is that I used the power antenna switch (that did nothing because I had a then modern deck that operated the antenna) to activate the lock and unlock from inside of the car. It is probably the most used switch on my console and is totally invisible to the concours obsessed onlookers

 

Hi
Certainly the 308 model did not have central locking until the mid 80's. My 308GTB QV of 1984 did as did my GTB and GTS both of 1987 vintage. I also have a 1979 GTB and it for sure has no central locking. Also reference the slow windows, I recently re-strung both left and right window lifter systems on the 1979 GTB and stripped and cleaned the motors and the pulleys. Windows go up and down quickly with no issues. Bit of work but well worth it as dirt / dust collects in the doors over years and affects the performance of the system. You do not need these power enhancer thingy ma jigs. Last point, do not wind down the door lock indicator pins with a cross head screw driver. Simply screw them down finger tight. If they are screwed down hard the door will not lock properly.
Hope that helps anyone.
Regards
Les
LJ328