Ok I just heard something from an old timer 70 + that has my attention and as far as i know has never been done. I need to ask if anyone knows more about it.
He told me that they used to cut a van door from a 60s van at the bottom and redo the arch for the fender to replace doors on 50s cabovers. According to him the widths were the same but not the arch or window areas. They adjusted the hinges where they needed to be, redid the bottom of doors, and replaced both doors because of visual difference. He doesnt seem to remember if it was ford or chevy or if the height was adjusted. He had a body shop many years ago and is usually a wealth of information but time and heath has taken its toll. Can anyone tell me anything about this. We are losing the knowledge and tricks of these guys so i ask as many questions as i can.

 

Sorry i cannot answer your question.
But...
There is a guy on another forum making COE doors from regular truck doors..
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/regular-cab-doors-on-coe.922309/#post-10448327
You might have to join the forum AND join the COE groupto read the thread,dont be afraid, the group is very easy going.
Its something id try to do.

 

As for the entire van door fitting on a COE, I seriously doubt that would work without a huge amount of work....
However, using the bottoms and/or the wheel arch sections for repair of the COE doors is a possibility. That might work better than making patch panels from scratch.
I'll do some looking around next time I'm at the junkyard...

 

1960's van: Econoline.

Left: 1961/63 Econoline, 1964/67 same // Right: 1969/72 Econoline, 1973/74 same.

 

Im not even sure he was talking about the driver/passenger doors It could be the back doors or side doors since its a van and they cut the arch in it anyway. I agree that maybe using half or part would be a time saver. My thinking is the width, ledge, or something matched making an easy fix in those days. It still sounds like a chexy thing to me since ford changed so much in 56. I dont know who had vans in early 60s Volkswagon, chevy, ford. Anyway thanks for the info on the guy making doors. Mine are in bad shape on my 52 Coe

 

Wonder if little brother would mind if I stol... Er. Borrowed the doors off his otherwise complete Falcon Club Wagon?...

 

I say, "GO FOR IT!". Let us know how it works out. Pictures would be nice