[DavidG]

With regard to your question about the destiny of the first 242 V-8 engines, think of them as test engines for durability purposes (or experimental engines trying out new or different ideas). Normally, they would be test run on equipment designed for that purpose until they failed, torn down to determine the reason for the failure, and either repaired and tested further or scrapped. Several of those pre-production or experimental V-8 engines ended up in a storage building in Greenfield Village in Dearborn and were eventually auctioned off along with other such engines from both before and after 1932 about twenty years ago or so. This was contrary for Ford's standing practice and their survival can likely be attributed to the fact that they had be donated the "The Henry Ford".

Someone earlier commented on GM's sloppy followup regarding the destruction of prototype and pre-production parts and vehicles and implied that Ford might have been similarly lax. It would seem that Ford had a better system as very few pre-production parts or vehicles over the years have survived unless they served a Ford purpose.

It is possible and remains to be determined via the engineering release forms that frame rails made before the reveals were added (which had to be very few given the 1931 date of the change) were released for general production use only on frames destined for commercial vehicles (like some other '32 parts which were changed early in the model year like manually adjustable shock absorbers, for example) rather than scrapped. Hopefully the surviving records will reflect that one way or the other.

Please be patient with the BFRC staff assisting you. They are not necessarily "car" people who have a basic understanding of historic automotive design and manufacturing practices but rather are archivists.

Lastly, no matter what you find at the BFRC, it would advance your case exponentially if one of the four fellows you refer to could come up with some photos of an original frame with flat side rails and all or at least two out of three of the original cross members still riveted in place and not having most of the original holes for the fenders and running boards eliminated, which seems to be the case in the photos of your frame.