'A' front crossmember in a '32

[PeteVS]

The front crossmember in my brother's '32 was all busted and patched up, so I decided to put an 'A' front crossmember in. Additionally, it needed to be notched for a pulley clearance issue. Apparently, lots of people just chop out what's in the way and run with it. I had another "donor" 'A' member that had some cracks elsewhere, so I cut a section out and grafted it into the part I was using.

 

[Chris Tassie Devil]

I like the look of that extra metal in the 'A' crossmember. I've seen some crossmembers, modified as you describe, with cracks in the area where the metal was removed.

 

[DICK SPADARO]

The cross member in your picture is from a early 28 where the rear verticle flange bolted directly to the 4 cyl engine. From viewing your picture the mount has been trimmed slightly. This cross member still requires trimming for crank pulley clearance on a V8. When using this cross member there also may be some issues with the radiator-grille shell hood alignment due to the radiator pad boss height.

 

[Bruce Lancaster]

Pete cut and bent the end parts of the thing with a '32 crossmember as reference, shortening the A part to '32 width and forming tabs to meet the '32 rovet holes in rails. I saw it during the festivities, and it was a very neat job, resulting in a crossmember that looks like it was factory made to go in a '32.
Moving in that flange rather than cutting it leaves an entire extra channel integral with the crossmember, presumably keeping a lot of stiffness that is trimmed away when the area is simply axed.

 

[Newc]

Hi All; When possible, I use 32 crossmember ends on the replacement crossmembers, be it Model A in front, or 33/34 in the rear. It is nice when the stock rivit holes line up. Newc