Converting van doors into a hatchback?

[TucsonAZ]

Sorry if you were hoping for pictures but this was just an idea I had that I thought would be cool and functional as an outdoor shower (easy to hang a curtain), kitchen at the back (providing some shelter) and overall more functional than just having doors.

I wanted to try this as well as making a custom hightop and was thinking about trying to find a donor junk van on craigs with no motor or whatever to experiment with.

 

[LeeRevell]

I have seen a pic online of this done with the big single side slider door on a van. Interesting conversion. Some Dodge Ram Vans have the single rear door, that would be easier than trying to mod the split side-hinged doors.
I am thinking it would be rather heavy though.

 

[karl]

Went that route with my step van, really like it. Never considered doing it with the more complex curves of a standard van.

 

[Patrick46]

I remember seeing customized vans back in the 70's that had this done. They had also converted the front doors into gullwings too.

Yep, you can do this!! (of course...we'll want pictures!!)

 

[Almost There]

Gull wing door mods were done fairly routinely amongst the show van people back in the 70s and 80s. If you know any old vanners that have been into bodywork for that long they could probably assist with how they did it.

You'll need some fairly substantial struts to hold up the weight of the door. And yes, Lee was right, the one piece doors lend themselves to it more than the 2 doors do although some of the guys joined the two doors and/or fabricated a new skin for them.

The one problem IIRC was getting the lift high enough that tallish people didn't bonk themselves on the head going in and out. Most of them had the door so it only lifted to the height of the opening.

Oh and word of warning, they won't really provide shelter because there will be a gap between the body and the door when open that will let in the rain.

I too would like a more sheltered back door when opened so rather than installing a 'window' style RV awning at the back I'm sewing up a silnylon cover that will fasten inside the van and come out over the two back doors. It will stop the rain from coming down off the top and into the back six inches of the van floor, a design deficiency that drives me nuts. It will also provide me with a shade awning to keep hot sun from blaring into the inside of the van.

 

[jimindenver]

We use to just set a piece of ply over the open doors to provide a bit of shade. Stretch a bit of tart between the doors and we had a impromptu shower space.

 

[MikeRuth]

I like Jim's Idea but I don't have room to slide a piece of ply that large into the van anymore.

One folding door doesn't excite me but that's MHO. I'm going to look into just making a light weight frame out of PVC that can be easily attached to the upper door frames and then drape a curtain. gives privacy and allows open air above. Alternatively a top could be clipped onto the frame to make a shelter/shade.

 

[highdesertranger]

ha ha ha jim, "stretch a tart between the doors". hope your wife doesn't see that. highdesertranger

 

[Tinman74]

I know this is a bit off topic but it is an option for shower space.
On my 2003 ram van I uses some old plastic canopy tubing and ells (pvc would work as well) to make a frame that would fit on the top ledges of the doors then I would clamp ( squeeze type clamps) a tarp around the frame to use for a shower. The frame would fit both the side and rear doors on my dodge ram van. After showering I could step right into the van to dry off and dress. worked great. I also just used a pump sprayer with a kitchen sink spray head for the shower. The frame would come apart for easy storage.
Bob