1935 or 1940 Frame ?

B

barnfind

Senior Member
I bought a 35 coupe quite a few years ago mostly for the sheet metal and pushed it to the back of the barn and kinda forgot about it. I was checking out the frame today thinking all these years that it was a 35 that got 40 Ford brakes some time prior to its rusty life.

Not able to get good pictures but attaching the right front frame horn and radiator mount and the brake backing plate for the right front. It has small bolt pattern wire wheels and the serial number on the frame is not readable.

Any one recognize the front frame or backing pate and care to speculate ?
 

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barnfind said:
I bought a 35 coupe quite a few years ago mostly for the sheet metal and pushed it to the back of the barn and kinda forgot about it. I was checking out the frame today thinking all these years that it was a 35 that got 40 Ford brakes some time prior to its rusty life.

Not able to get good pictures but attaching the right front frame horn and radiator mount and the brake backing plate for the right front. It has small bolt pattern wire wheels and the serial number on the frame is not readable.

Any one recognize the front frame or backing pate and care to speculate ?
Click to expand...


What is the VIN number stamped into the frame rail?
574789
 
that's a 35 frame, the backing plates are 39-48, can't identify any further without seeing the bottom anchors.
 
I agree with Brian - front crossmember is 35/36 and the radiator mount bracket with only a single mounting hole narrows it down to 1935. I'm thinking that the backing plates are
are 39-41 and as Brian said the bottom anchors would confirm. Good pics of other parts such as spindles, hubs, wishbone spring mounting area, etc. could narrow things down in
that regard also. What's the body? 3-window Coupe would be interesting to see and get guys checking their wallets!!
 
Hard to tell from that angle but the axle and wishbones look like 37-40 probably a 35-36 frame with a complete later front axle unit rolled under it.
 
If the frame is badly pitted at the cowl area stamping location, it may have another stamping closer to the rear cross member on the same side. It would have been an 18 prefix number in 1935 since the B was gone after 1934.

If the location is only moderately pitted then forensic efforts may be able to raise the number. The surface has to be smoothed with no heavier than 400 or finer abrasive paper. The correct type and concentration of acid will only etch the bare metal. Stamping hardens the surface steel on the stamped area so it doesn't etch nearly as easily. The characters are usually pretty visible during the process if done properly.
 
Thanks for the advice on raising the frame serial number.
I did a very light cleaning with a brass wire brush and can read 2 or 3 numbers but not the beginning of the sequence.

I found this article on the HAMB that describes a few techniques including acid, chalk, and talcum powder to try and make the numbers visible:

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/model-a-serial-number-recovery.1288109/

I think I would only resort to acid if I had access to someone else's frame :)
Plus a very well ventilated work area !!!
 
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