Thread: 1937 pontiac 4 door sedan

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Question about the vin # on the frame on my 37 pontiac.
Most of it is wore away. What's a person to do with something like that.

I have a relative looking for a 49-50 Merc. Of course the two doors have been popular since day one of '49, so solid builders are almost non-existant. Four doors are so much cheaper, it seems worth the effort to modify one, so that is a good alternative for us.

I don't know how many of those Pontiacs are even around. That may be the simplest solution.

Generally, the front doors on a two door car are wider than the doors on a four door car...........they narrow the doors on the four door version to squeeze two more doors behind the front ones. So to convert to a two door there are two ways to do it. First is to find two front doors from a two door, graft those in, and modify the area behind them to fill in what hole is left from the rear doors being there at one time. The second way is to stretch the existing front doors by adding metal to them to make them wider.

We got involved with doing the four door to two door conversion on a 49 Ford we were playing around with at one time. (We ultimately gave up because we decided this particular car wasn't good enough to spend more time and money on) We did the route of buying two front doors from a two door and gutting the area where the four doors once sat. Then we were going to cut up the two back doors and use the sheet metal to fill in the voids.

If you just weld up the back two doors and use the old front doors unmodified, it sort of gives a funny look to most cars as the fronts look too narrow and the back area ends up looking too long. As was mentioned, it can be done, but is a lot of work to pull off correctly. I also agree that the four door versions of that particular car are pretty cool as they are.

Here are some shots of the 49 we were hacking up and what it looked like once the front doors were swapped out for two door versions. The 3rd picture shows the difference in width between the old doors and the new tudor doors.

Don

I was lucky to find a two door pontiac. Now I have the doors so I won't have to modify them. Just got lucky.

Originally Posted by Trjohn57

I was lucky to find a two door pontiac. Now I have the doors so I won't have to modify them. Just got lucky.

Did you just get the doors or the whole car?

Great pictures. How much did you chop the top? I've been wondering how to do that also. I can see by your pictures that the back part changes. Looks great to me. Thanks

I got the whole car that I will be picking up in acouple of weeks. Nice to have extra fenders and other parts. I needed a better trunk lid for mine. The hood is better looking from the pictures also. Atleast this way I should be able to make something out of it.

I also cut up a 69 Chevelle to hopefully use the front and rearend section on my 37. That's a concern because of the serial # on the frame of the 37. I can only get acouple of numbers off of it. The body tag is on it. Not quite sure how to do all of this. Maybe switch the body onto this frame. The title was malied to me yesterday. So I might be able to make some sense out of all of this. I'm not going to do any cutting till I bring the 2 door home.

Here are two threads from over at the HAMB about very neat 4 door to 2 door conversions. Talent is outstanding. Hope it gives you some ideas.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d+packard+door

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...t=packard+door

It sure did. I'm going to think this one out.
Hate to screw up anything to bad.
Thanks for the post. Every little bit helps.

On old cars, If the serial number isn't all visable, which is more important? The body tag or can you restamp the serial number from the title back on the frame?
Looking for advise on what to do. Part of the serial # is still on the frame.

Nothing you can do that can't be done. John Lennon

I received the title today which matches the body tag. So I am all set. I will cut up both bodies and make one out of it when I bring home the other car. This answers my previous question. I won't worry about the frame number since it's rusted away.

I did install a 69 Chevelle front frame on the old 37 the last few days. Something is wrong. It was way to easy to make work. I'm taring 2 of these bad boys apart to make one. Trying to figure out where to cut the 2 door body off. I had a friend over yesterday who has a frame straightening machine. He's telling me to try and get a title for the 2 door instead of chopping them up. I bought the 2 door without a title on ebay, so I don't think I can get a title for it. I've tried before on another vehicle. Anyone have a clue on if I can get a title for it? Or what happens if you make a 4 door into a 2 door with the serial number? Should I call the state vehicle place and ask them?

Trying to see if I can post a picture. Here goes.

http://i51.tinypic.com/8vuaz7.jpg

What's the trick to removing the door handle on a 37 pontiac? Outside handle. I removed the screw that screws into it from the door edge. I don't see any clips.