TECH: Make a 4 door into a 2 door

Good work. Finish it as a three door, take to a Mopar show, and tell them it was a factory screw up. Some loon will buy it for moocho bucks..

 

Good job........can't remember who makes it.....but has a conversion to make a 55-57 in to a convertible.....it's a complete kit with all new parts.......Have a article on it somewhere at the house........

 

seen a early 60's Mopar Stationwagon/Ambulance at a show here in St Louis that was a 3 door. 2 on the drivers side & one longggg one on the passager. really odd looking......joe

 

This post realy kicks**** ! I have been trien to recover any data on this issue! I have a 55 ford mordoor myself! I have been planning this mod for a long time! I posted a info advice thread like a year ago and got some replies that said this couldnt be done! sO i DID WHAT ANY HAMBER WOULD HAVE DONE! pURCHASED TWO DOORS! From a 2-dr. from another hamber! Thnx KRIS from Daytona! I always received info from a couple other guys by mail on this subject! I have been wateing for the day that I ever get around to body work to try this ! Now I hope the smart MFERS that said this cant be done can see this thanks man I feal like the first time I ever smelt spray paint! I cant wate to rip into her!

 

that is a real slaughter job. i love it. make what you want with whatever you have. it only gets better when you make someone cry that you choped up a car or anything els that moves or could when you are dun.
looks like it going to come out killer clean. thank you.

 

i was cringing until i seen how you added part of the 2 doors quarter panel in and then i was amazed.you got some awesome talant man.

 

glad this made it back to the top, my buddy kelly did the same thing to his 52 buick. I've watched him do the work plus he chopped the***** out of it I think he ended up useing like 3 different skins before he found the one he liked best. Nice work. If I remember right when he went to the dmv the lady said he couldn't register it as a 4 door because it only had 2. So I think on his registration it says 52 2 door buick.

 

Damn, great article!!

 

Hey Squa, any idea if those 57 hardtop doors would fit a 57 wagon?

I have a 4 door 57 210 wagon that would be prime for this!!!!!

Thanks for the TECH & pics.

 

could this be done to a 53 plymouth. I wonder how hard would it be? i wondre if the "b" piller is spot welded also?

 

personally, I'm just happy as a clam that somebody chopped up a 2 door, to fix up a 4 door. I don't give a rats behind that it was done to turn the 4 door into a two door, it's just cool as heck that somebody tore up a coupe to fix a sedan. I'm impressed.

 

The 53 Plymouth is a body on frame type. They are much more substantial in construction that the Unibody cars.

 

Pretty sure he means yes.

It can be done, and to about any car, but different construction would require different details like shape of doors, 1/4 window and roof shape might alter how to go about it.

 

I'm sure you could do the same with a wagon. A set of two door sedan doors would work in the front, but I think you'd have to use some material from your wagon rear doors to fill in the quarters, unless you had a wasted '55-57 handyman wagon to scavange sheetmetal from, whichI would imagine would be hard to come by. Keep in mind that hardtop doors are different from two door sedan doors. You need the doors with the pillar around the glass.

I'm sure it could be done if you have the parts. Even if the B-pillar is more structural in the '53, it's still do-able, you'll just need to reuse the B-pillar structure from the donor car. (meaning, if the B-pillar in the two door was tied into the rockers, you should tie it into your four door in the same way.)

 

good stuff.

thanks for sharing.

-W

 

I realize this is a pretty old post, but I just had to reply after seeing this.

This looks totally killer. These are amazing looking cars even as 4 doors, but as a two door it looks incredible.

Great job man, you made it look WAY too easy. I can barely weld, but after reading this thread I feel like I could do this. Scary.

I'm basically just a lurker here, I usually don't have much to say, I'm just trying to learn, but I just wanted to give you a two thumbs up on this one. Awesome.

Givs me hope too, because I've come to the conclusion that any car that fits into my budget (when I get around to buying one) is going to include 2 extra doors.

Got anypics of the finished product?

 

Thanks for the kind words man, I really appreciate that.

Seems like a lot of the good buildable project cars are four doors, and people pass them up on a regular basis, not seeing that they can be made into the more popular two door bodystyle with a parts car and some fab work. I picked up a '56 Chevy two door sedan earlier this week which will wait in the yard for a suitable '56 four door donor to build.

As for finished product pics, unfortunately no, don't have any pics to show yet, haven't finished the car yet. I actually jumped on the project for a few days because I wanted to have something to show for tech week a year ago, plus a friend of mine was ragging on me for always talking about doing it but never getting to it. I'll be sure to post pics when it's all*****oned up.

 

Thanks very much for posting this originally and for the referral.

I don't have the fab skills yet to tackle the 64 Buick with confidence, but you've set-up a whole lot of thinking in my head. Damn good vision. Damn good!

 

welding the back doors shut, and buying a folding bench works ok too, hehe.

 

can't forget to shave the door gaps now can we. thats what i wanted to do....

 

Allright.a Guy Down The Street From Me Has A 50 Buick 4 Door And Another Has A 51 2 Door Scrap Heap.i Am This Close To Jumping In And Building A Custom 2door Choptop.andthing I Should Be Weary Of,or Does Anyone Have Any Pics Of 50,51,52 Buicks I Could Draw Inspiration From

 

Is the two door a post car, or a hardtop? If it's a post car, i'd be on it, that would be a fairly straightforward conversion. If the parts car is a hardtop (no door posts) then it's still do-able, but it's going to be a TON more work.

If you do decide to go for it, do the two door conversion all the way through, make sure everything lines up like factory, then start the chop. If you try to do both at once, it's going to be really difficult to get everything to line up.

 

Is this due to body flex from the lack of support all around?

BTW very nice write up and photos. I may have missed it but are there any fully finished and painted photos of this car up yet?

 

No finished pics yet, because the car isn't finished. I've got a customer car in my shop right now that's taking up all the room. When it's done, I'll get back on the Fury.

The reason I wouldn't try a chop and a two door swap at the same time is because you need the roof to be in place to line up the doors and the rear quarters for the two door swap, and you need the doors and quarters to be in place to line up the roof for a chop. Having both apart at the same time would be a super big mess trying to get them all to line up.

Really (I'm sure it depends on the car, but) the two door conversion is really easy, I've done a couple of top chops and I'd say this is way more straightforward and simple, you don't have to re-engineer anything. Anyone with good welding skills and patience can do it.

 

OK thats about what I thought, thanks for the info and the great article again.

 

Look good, a different way then what was done on my lincoln, but*****, its all the same in the end as long as it looks good. Cheers, squirrell

 

No to hijack the post but here are pics for PSYCHOMOTO, 53 Olds 4 door converted to 2 door, using convertible donor doors and a 40's Ford rear glass surround. It’s a bit of work but I personally think its well worth it, and well having the car for over 10 years kinda helps in the motivation. I'll be calling you to get my shield cut.....
Rey

 

That looks really good. Where on Earth would anyone find solid convertible donor doors? Seems like anything even resembling a convertible would get restored.

Also, does it have functional side glass? Any finished pics?