I discovered the other day, that the front crossmember has four rivets in it I've not seen on any of my other 33/34's (several!) It appears to have an additional plate inside it and also looks factory to me. Any thoughts? I did have a'32 frame once that had bracing on the rear kick up's. A friend of mine told me it was a truck frame. That;s the first thing I thought when I saw these rivets. I will say this: the crossmembe is NOT cracked. It is very good! Tim
This was the factory's answer to the problem of cracking front cross-members because of the horrible roads that they had to drive on. This was started in 1932 and more or less cured the problem.
I've never seen that on a 33-34 crossmember. But I also can't remember seeing the scallops around the front side clamp holes either. Can you take a pic from a little farther back? Does the side rail have the running board holes in the sides? If not, it's probably a pickup frame.
Isn’t it an Australian phaeton, maybe something done specific for export. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I haven't seen a prewar crossmember that didn't have a plate welded either inside, on top of or both as crack repair. Usually pretty crude. Never seen factory riveted.
Late ‘32’s had the brace added, nothing to do with it being a truck frame. - Remedy for a design fault.
Alchemy: Here's a different angle pic of the cross member. I didn't pay any attention to the "scalloped" work untill you said something.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/33-5w-build-thread.1127212/page-7 I guess the scallops do show a little on some other crossmembers, just seemed to me that yours were more pronounced. But again, I've never seen the riveted stiffener plate before on a 33 crossmember. Don't forget to check the sides of your rails for the runningboard mounting holes. Unless maybe the runningboards are already bolted in place?
I found a pic of a 34 pickup with a stiffener riveted in the crossmember. But it's front edge is more like I remember, with a rolled edge. Have you checked the side rails for the proper runningboard holes yet?