Half doors 2nd gen idea... give me some advice

[dersch6221992]

so this summer once it gets warm out i want to do half doors... i have two ideas. both i want to still utilize the original outside door handle, and latches, also the side mirrors. the first on would basically cut the top of the door frame off and then would cut the bottom of the doors off just above where the plastic molding is and down from there.

basically where all the red is is where the door would be.

the second is a little more dramatic. it would cut a lot of the top off and cut it all up all the way to the stock door handle. and it would only go down to about where the arm rest sits at on the inside of the door. so that i can still use factory handles to get in and out. and then it would also cut the bottom of the door off.

the green X is where i would cut away everything. the red is all that would remain.

i have a few concerns. 1. will i still be able to use the factory hinges? (also important) 2. i will obviously have to weld some metal onto the doors to keep water out. but any concerns i should be looking at? 3. any advice on if this is a good design? i plan to buy an extra crappy set of doors put them on and pretty much leave them on unless the forecast is about 10 days of rain. i park in a garage at work. and then at home i will just have a cover to throw over the truck.

what do you guys think?

 

[LUVITLO]

Are you planning on chopping the top too? You could just remove the doors completly and use a Pro Net idea u remember those old things prople used to ditch their tailgate off the pickup and run a net across claiming it boosted gas milage lol wouldn't be enough to notice if it did at all.
Currious are you wanting to do this because ur ac broken?

 

[FIND]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=159807

There are a few other half door projects in that section, but I'd recommend going this route, especially in Michigan, so you can get canvas on in winter or cooler/rainier times instead of having to swap doors as often. If you just want to keep a second set of doors around and swap them constantly, feel free to cut more. As long as you don't cut away the area around the hinges, you can use the stock hinges. weld shut anything you cut off and you shouldn't have any problem, but I'd probably relocate your power lock switches and get marine speakers if you plan on having music still.

If you are cutting out that much, why not tube doors like Rick has? You can still leave a spot to mount the mirrors, and they would make up the rigidity you would lose with so little of your door structure left.

 

[dersch6221992]

Are you planning on chopping the top too? You could just remove the doors completly and use a Pro Net idea u remember those old things prople used to ditch their tailgate off the pickup and run a net across claiming it boosted gas milage lol wouldn't be enough to notice if it did at all.
Currious are you wanting to do this because ur ac broken?

actually that net idea would be pretty sick for doors. hmmmmmmm makes me think now but no i just think itd be cool looking once i get my bigger tires. and its michigan its hot

 

[dersch6221992]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=159807

There are a few other half door projects in that section, but I'd recommend going this route, especially in Michigan, so you can get canvas on in winter or cooler/rainier times instead of having to swap doors as often. If you just want to keep a second set of doors around and swap them constantly, feel free to cut more. As long as you don't cut away the area around the hinges, you can use the stock hinges. weld shut anything you cut off and you shouldn't have any problem, but I'd probably relocate your power lock switches and get marine speakers if you plan on having music still.

If you are cutting out that much, why not tube doors like Rick has? You can still leave a spot to mount the mirrors, and they would make up the rigidity you would lose with so little of your door structure left.

i plan on having second set of doors for winter... this would be stricly a spring through fall set up. just something fun.
and yea i have thought about the canvas idea for the top for rainy days... but idk where id get it or how much itd be.
i have seen that thread i just dont like how he took the stock door handle out. and yea i will probably do the marine speakers. and the switchs i would probably just keep them there until it became and issue... no windows or doors to unlock anyway s
tube doors would be sick however i am not the best at fabrication so thats why i figured itd be good to just modify a pair of doors.

i think i like the second idea better because that way i am actuallly taking enough off so it looks like half doors/ custom. but i still have a door to protect me in a sense. just would need to get the canvas figured out.

http://www.ranger-forums.com/fabrication-tool-tech-42/tube-doors-vs-half-doors-123556/page2/ check out post 34/35 thats pretty much exactly the look i want except the bottom half removed too.

 

[LUVITLO]

If you want protection while ur welding anyway put a good stout iron bar like a railroad iron or something and brace it up good in there before u close it up. Seen guys weld them in the bumper of pickups for weight and traction but when one boy got rearended it totaled the car that hit him but that iron didn't move an inch, he had one cracked tail light and a small dent in the tailgate with red paint kissed all in his silver bumper lol

 

[dersch6221992]

If you want protection while ur welding anyway put a good stout iron bar like a railroad iron or something and brace it up good in there before u close it up. Seen guys weld them in the bumper of pickups for weight and traction but when one boy got rearended it totaled the car that hit him but that iron didn't move an inch, he had one cracked tail light and a small dent in the tailgate with red paint kissed all in his silver bumper lol

haha yea thats somethign to think about. sounds like stuff the crazy rednecks (my friends) did in my hometown.

but yea like the link i posted in my reply to FIND thats what i want to do basically. it seems the doors would be pretty light. and it should be a simple enough thing to do. and when i cut the bottom half of the door it would pretty much just be up to wherever the bottom hinge is so i still ahve that to mount the doors. canvas would be nice for sure so that i have something to keep the rain out if that happens. cause i dont want ot have to change every 3-4 days when it starts to rain in michigan

 

[LUVITLO]

What's gonna be funny is when your 45 miles from home and it comes a downpour with that heavy sideways rain slappin u in the face. I did that more than once in my 94 Geo Tracker on days I'd leave the top at home lol ruined 3 pioneer head units in one month!

 

[dersch6221992]

What's gonna be funny is when your 45 miles from home and it comes a downpour with that heavy sideways rain slappin u in the face. I did that more than once in my 94 Geo Tracker on days I'd leave the top at home lol ruined 3 pioneer head units in one month!

haha yea! i drive 3 miles to work. and park in a parking garage. drive 2 miles to my gf's dorm. and drive 4 miles to work. lol i plan to always keep a cover in the truck. and then in the cargo area screw down a trunk with a lock on it to keep neccessities but have them "secured"

and canvas door tops will be a must for highway driving if it rains lol

 

[99XLT-Explorer]

I did these on my 90 Bronco i started below the hole for the lock cylinder so i wouldnt have to do any hole filling and what i did with the latch mechanism so i could open them i found out which lever on the mechanism opened the do and connected a rod for the manual locks and when you push down the door would open

 

[dersch6221992]

I did these on my 90 Bronco i started below the hole for the lock cylinder so i wouldnt have to do any hole filling and what i did with the latch mechanism so i could open them i found out which lever on the mechanism opened the do and connected a rod for the manual locks and when you push down the door would open

Thanks for the advice. But I still may try and use the stock door mechanism for simplicity

 

[99XLT-Explorer]

Its still the stock mechanism with a manual lock rod on the latch lever it was really easy to do and works nice and imo is much cleaner than keeping the stock door handle

I like the ones in the link above except for the door handle on the top

I will try to get some more pics of my setup after school

 

[dersch6221992]

Its still the stock mechanism with a manual lock rod on the latch lever it was really easy to do and works nice and imo is much cleaner than keeping the stock door handle

I like the ones in the link above except for the door handle on the top

I will try to get some more pics of my setup after school

yea pics would help alot. maybe im making it more complicated then i need to.

 

[99XLT-Explorer]

it was really simple to do i just made the cuts on the doors with a grinder with a cut off wheel.
i used masking tape to mark the line i wanted.
Once you cut the doors it will be very flimpsy atleast mine were cause i cut the top of mine off.
i would recomend pulling out the little thing in the door hinge that helps hold the door out bc it will make the door fling out cause of how light it will be.
i boxed mine in with some plywood even added speakers.
what i would recomend and what i did was put that stuff you line the edge of boat center consoles and things like that on the edge of the cut bc it will be very sharp.
unfortunatly mine bronco crapped the bed b4 i had a chance to put on mirriors but my plan was to take mirriors from a 95 f150 and put them on the tab that i left at the a pillar.
if i were doing it again i would design them exactly how i did bc its the easiest and imo is the best design out of any of them. basically mine are designed exactly like a jeeps halfdoors

 

[99XLT-Explorer]

sorry bud i never took pictures of them while i did them i still have them sitting in the garage but i cant take pics of the linkage cause the doors are all boxed in with plywood

 

[LUVITLO]

Ok yall usin plywood on a truck:0 are you atleast experienced enough to put a layer of fiberglass resin over the plywood when you was done to prevent rot and decay??

 

[FIND]

No, he meant the doors are blocked in by plywood and he can't dig them out of his garage.

 

[99XLT-Explorer]

no i boxed the doors in with plywood basically making door panels and theres this special stuff call preasure treated that doesnt rot.... who is going to fiberglass a set of half doors that will more than likely get beat to hell? believe it or not they are very clean ill get some pics up eventually

 

[99XLT-Explorer]

 

[Tbars4]

..This might be worth a look..
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=274442&highlight=half+doors