Help me identify this frame!!!

Thanks for posting the shots of the backing plates.
I have to concur with what's already been said...I'm pretty sure it's a Chrysler frame with a Model A rearend added. Looks like a really good starting point for a build!

 

id like pinpoint a year and be definate on the chrysler fact. im not doubting anyone here i just really wanna be sure what the frame is, cuz i know @ a show someones gonna ask me eventually also.

 

Thats definately not a Ford frame!!!!!!! The rear axle looks like those out of 42-47 1/2Ton Ford with open drive banjo, but if it has mech. brakes than no!!

 

That looks Dodge to me.

 

I don't blame you one bit, knowing what every part of your car is, is the most important part of the build. This is a lot of fun playing whatzit.

 

ya definately. i got some headlights and a grille i bought from a swap meet that i have no clue what they are. and gauges outta a 57 chevy, they look like spaceship controls. thats another thread tho.

once i start the build i'll post plenty of pics. it will make some cringe im sure, but it involves a very famous "german" body.....

 

OK.....

I am no Expert as many of you have pointed out .... BUT !!


I run a 1926 Chrysler Frame in my Model A Sports Coupe & i can tell you THAT is not a Mid-'20's Chrysler frame.

I know mine IS as i bought it with a Pink Slip & Saw the body that it came from & i run the '26 Chrysler grill that came with it.

I also own, & just Looked at a 1925 Dodge frame in my back yard & This IS NOT a Mid-'20's Dodge either.

Chryslers of this Vintage, As for as I can tell HAD NO VIN ON THE FRAME, The only place i could find a Chrysler to have a Vin is on the Firewall of the Body & the Engine.

Dodge of the same Vintage had a Vin on the SIDE of the frame, PASSENGER side right around the Shackle Bracket.

Both the Chrysler & Dodge have a Large Semi-Rounded Plate that extends ACCROSS the rear frame horns & down to the REAR shackle brakets that the Gas Tank attches to & acts as a Body filler Similar to how a '32 Ford tank finishes the rear of the car.

Also, The X or K member in this frame is Nothing like either Dodge or Chrysler, They have NO x or k member in them.

The front cross member is NOT MoPar at all, The 4 & 6 cylinder MoPaR attched thru a Hole in the center of the cross member wit 3 bolts at the FRONT of the engine & had side mounts at the bell housing.

MoPaR Frame rails are PERFECTLY straight from front to back, This one has all kinds of curve to it.

MoPaR Frame rail TAPER from side veiw from the rear Axle center line down to the Rear spring Shackles & the Iron Brackets for the Shackles is COMPLETLTY different.

I can tell you this, In My Opinion, THIS IS NOT A MOPAR from the Mid-'20's!!!

I have had several and this is in no way like the ones i have had.

 

I personally would think the bowed sides point to a mid-30s era car, but I'm no expert.

 

I have had several early 30's plymouths and I think that is what it is, I know you are getting lots of guesses but I will throw mine in there, I am saying 30-31 plymouth. Jim

 

Im guessing early thirties mopar

 

well its not a mopar hangar on the rear of the spring i just went down and looked at my moms 31 sport roadster

 

LOL GOOD TIMES HERE!! ya from all my own research i have to agree with desoto. everything he said was every doubt i had about that era plymouth.

im still tryin to look up willys frames, and now i'll search post 30s plymouth as well.

one of you old timers out there has to know!!!!!

teach this young squirt somethin lol

 

Look at the drivers side frame rail, on the outside (not the top), Front axle REAR spring hanger.. my 30 DD dodge has the vin stamped there..
The rear spring hanger on your car looks like dodge ( the integral shackle/bumper mount) ..But the front ???
My vin starts w/ DD*****
Let us know what you find
Dave

 

My '30 Plymouth is very similar, but the frame rails are straight from front to rear no wave in or out with a kick-up similar to yours. It just has straight cross members and there is a number stamped driver side rail before the rear spring mount on the side of the rail. This might be mid to late '30s model, just guessing.

 

Willys goes to a 4-lug tiny drum brake setup in what year again?

What you need to run into is a lube chart book from the 30s or so, a lot of them have a line diagram of the frame with all the lube points highlighted. I have a Kendall book somewhere in the other room from about 1950 that's like that. I bet the right book you'd have that frame ID'ed in like 5 minutes.

 

well im grinding rivets off the spring hangers and settin it up on the frame jig this weekend. sure as hell wish i knew what it was before i chop it up. oh well, f*ck it i guess....

 

Front axle looks like Terraplane.

 

the goodguys show in pleasanton is this weekend, im gonnas be crawlin under a bunch of cars to try to figure this out, this thread is already dying, so i guess i just have to do a ton of research to find out the truth........ gotta love it

 

A lot of that frame reminds of the frame on my '31 Plymouth. I think my Plymouth's frame rails were 6.5" tall at the sides (taller than a Ford). My Plymouth had parallel leaf springs in front and rear, and the leaf spring mounts look very similar. The crossmember that goes over the back seat area looks identical to the one on my Plymouth. My Plymouth had the same basic shape, but it didn't have those extra parts that run almost parallel to the side rails. A '31 Plymouth had juice brakes front and rear, and the front axle looks like what I had. I'm thinking it's probably a Mopar and probably from around that time period, but maybe that frame was for a roadster or a phaeton or something that needed the extra support in the mid section. Or maybe a heavier car or delivery truck or something. My Plymouth has a really heavy stamping rear crossmember that almost completely covers the whole gas tank. Yours looks different in that area.

What's the wheelbase? That might help you track it down. Since it looks like that rear axle isn't what it came with originally, you could probably measure between the bumpstops to get a more accurate wheelbase measurement in case they relocated the rear axle.

My Plymouth had 5 on 5-1/2" bolt pattern.

 

Yeah, '30 Plymouths are pretty straight. But they redesigned the frame for '31 and my '31 Plymouth has the same waves and kickups as the one in the pictures. The '31 Plymouth was a little ahead of it's time in frame design and had some modern things like juice brakes that the other popular cars didn't put on until a few years later. The wheelbase of a Plymouth is definitely longer than a Ford. That info should be easy to track down.

It's probably not a '31 Plymouth because of the differences I noted in the last post, but it's so close overall that I bet it's Mopar and probably from ~'31 to '34 or so -- Dodge, Chrysler, Desoto, something like that, or possibly a Roadster or Phaeton or delivery truck or something.

One thing is for sure. It's not a Ford. Ford had transverse mounted leaf springs. This thing had parallel leaf springs front and rear.

 

That's a mid to late 30s Mopar...36-7-8. The motor mount xmember has been cut out for the hay wagon steering. I know of a 38 Plymouth project happenin and the frame is so similar it's probably the same. Design-wise it's also very similar to a 37 Chrysler Royal that I was re-doing for someone many years ago. What I don't see is the body mounts, specifically the cowl mount pads. They were riveted on the outside of the rails if memory serves. The rest I think ran through the rails.

 

For certain it's NOT a Willys.....main rails are way to large (tall). Wrong crossmember configurations...Willys used an "X" in the center in conjunction with a side to side tied to it for an engine mount. The front spring hangers are totally wrong.

 

Just a suggestion. Did you try to remove the lug nuts/bolts. If it is a Chrysler, Dodge or Mopar it will have left handed threads on one side with right handed on the other. Now obviously this will be true for the front axle only since we already determined the rear to be Model A.

 

It looks like it could be a 1932 - 33 Ply or a 1932 - 33 DeSoto frame. The front axle and "U" bolts looks like most Mopars

 

Now that is narrowed down just Google 1935 Dodge, Plymouth ect. and click on Images you should find sites and photos to help with the ID.

 

I had a chance to look at a '38 Plymouth over the weekend & the frame was NOT like this one.

Also my experiance is that MOST of the Plymouths of the era '35~'38 have had Tube front axles.

'37 Desoto FOR SURE had Coil Spring as i had one once.

 

1931 mopar frame

 

It's definitely a 1931 Dodge Brothers frame with a Ford rear end and a whole bunch of alterations and the rear most plate removed. Here is mine....do I win a prize!!!

 

Here is what may have been on it originally.....

 

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