Technical 1949-1951 mercury 4 door with 2 door doors

I have a 1951 mercury 4 door and plan on chopping it. I came up with a pair of 2 door doors. My question is I seen a pic awhile back with someone doing what I’m thinking of doing. I would like to install the 2 door doors, move the b pillar back and cut the rear 4 doors down by whatever it takes to make them fit and keep the 4 door roof just chopping it. If any of you have done this could you tell me if you were able to move the b pillar and still have room to get into the rear decently and keep the 4 door roof or any other major issues I will have. I would like to build something different I love the suicide doors and be able to keep my factory bench seat and have the full profile of the 2 door. Thanks in advance.

 

Would it look like a modern truck with the half size doors on the back?

 

I think that's been done, and I saw it on the HAMB. But I don't remember who did it.

 

I seen one on Pinterest but it didn’t have b pillar post at all. I’d like to keep them and ask what issues they ran into so I’m prepared

 

Here’s a ‘50 that was in Ol Skool Rodz 11/2018 mag. By the looks of it, if B pillar was in place wouldn’t be much of an opening!

 

Yeah I think your desire to move and retain the b pillar would hang the project. In order to work the b pillar would need to be integrated into the rear doors and latch to the car. Otherwise with a fixed b pillar rear doors would be pretty much useless due to size. Would not have to make it a pillar less hardtop. Just make b pillar and rear door one moving piece

 

Thanks for your inputs, that ol skool rods mag was it number 90 I found it on eBay and wanted to make sure.

 

Isn't the roof the same on 2 doors and 4 doors? Pretty sure that I have seen several that just used 2 door doors and extended the quarter to actually convert the 4 door into a 2 door. Maybe I am wrong on that? I bet @straykatkustoms knows.

Also, I know I have seen someone do what you are describing besides the one posted above as well that wasn't hardtopped.

 

I’ve been thinking about similar.

 

The roof profile is the same minus where it come together around the back window sail panel trim. I was thinking first of make it just a 2 door but the concept of keeping the doors in the rear that way just seems cooler now to me. Like the trucks, rx8’s, a few Hondas etc. plus I would like to keep the front seat and not have to look for another that folds. I may play with it this week and just sit a two x four there and get in and out of the car and see how bad it is.

 

I like the idea.

It comes from c.1934, when a number of coachbuilders were playing with the idea, though best known is probably the factory coachwork on the MG KN pillarless saloon:

 

Stretched front door or use a 2 door door.
Slanted “B” pillar.
Remove the center post. Thin it down and attached to the shorted rear door.
Latches on top and bottom of the rear door.

been thinking about that for a while.
I’ve got a rough 2 door parts car. If I was to do the 2 door conversion, I’d use parts of a rear door inner structure to maintain a roll down rear window

 

Yes, #90

 

Brad check out the "Helsinki Kustom Kulture Show 2026" thread
The video Lars posted @ 11:30min has a 51 Merc with a hardtop. Not a 4-door but would give you an idea of the look of 51 hardtop!

 

Thx I like the look a lot of the hardtop, but honestly I’m getting old and lazy. The hardtop idea seems like almost as much work as chopping a top on one of these 4 doors. I follow voodoo Larry and the one he’s doing is so much work.

 

There was a thread on the HAMB with someone having done extended front doors and functional, shorter rears, the car was brown/gold and the guy really nailed the details, I remember it quite well but I can't find the thread. If you can find it, that's your blueprint. Do it the way that guy did. I'll try to find it but haven't found it yet. It was not hardtopped, and there were in-progress build pictures.

 

I thought I looked at one someone done on here. I looked but no luck either.

 

This is the one I kept a pic of but for the life of me I can’t find it. Thought it may have been on killbillet a long tim

 

49 Mercury 4-door converison https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/49-mercury-4-door-converison.1116092/page-4

 

I didn't do the work on the Merc, Ralph Schindel was the guy that did the conversion. When we were in the process of converting my 4dr Merc to a two door, we measured both tops and they were the same size. When you add the stock two doors I'm not sure you are gong to have enough room to get into the rear seat. It would be different, not sure its worth all of the work to get there.

My Merc was a chopped four door with the "B" pillar removed and attached to the front door. We used a van latch that released the back door and when both doors were open it was wide open space. Looked kool and you had plenty of room to get adults in the back seat. Sure made it easy getting the kids in and out of the back seat. Since we converted it to a two door the Merc seems more stable with the "B" pillar attached to the top. The front doors were extended six inches so we are four inches shorter that a stock 2dr doors. It is almost impossible to get in the back seat because the doors are shorter than stock. (See pics below)

You have a very interesting project. If you want to keep it a four door, I would leave the four door on it and just chop it and enjoy it. Its going to be kool, it is a kustom Merc.

 

Here’s the car

found these on a Google search
guys name is Tony Jacobs I think
Haven’t found the thread for here

 

I’m not worried bout the back seat either
I’ll be driving

 

Here's mine. kept the lower part of the B pillar.............

 

Form over function

 

@anthony myrick That's the one I was thinking of. I think it's done well. I'd have just left the stock length 4 doors and chopped the hell out of it, but I like the different approach as well.

 

I know I've seen finished pics of the brown one and it looked great, I feel like those in-progress pics aren't as flattering, although that is definitely the car I was thinking of.

 

Everyone thanks so much for the input. I love the look of the brown one. I’m going to think it over for a little longer. May cut down the pair of 2 door doors some instead (they are rough) and still keep the b pillar and shorten the rear doors a little. I did stick a 2x4 up and seen how bad it would be to get in the rear and it’d be good for kids but that would be it. 4-6 more inches and it’d be good. This may work out for me considering the skin on one of my drivers front of the 4 door is really rough and the bottoms of my 2 door doors are rough also. May turn out to make a great project and a fun custom this way.

 

I think I’d do a 2 door conversion over leaving the post on a shortened rear door.
Removing the center post wouldn’t be much more work over every thing else