Saw this old car chassis while driving through a drive-thru....

[keiser31]

Looks like an altered Ford Model T frame to me. Just sitting in a pickup truck as I drove through the parking lot of a local drive-thru....maybe someone's new project....

Edited September 11, 2018 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[TerryB]

T bucket beginnings?

[1937hd45]

1913 or older Model T Ford frame with a 1919-27 battery box bracket added. Bob 

[keiser31]

I knew someone would know the approximate year.

[1912Staver]

Might also be a  1919-27 frame that someone has started converting to a early ' narrow style rear. The frame looks like it has the same amount of rust as the battery box. Only the rear cross member looks to have recent paint. Rivet placement at the rear corner does not look correct for the small forged body mounts.

 

Greg in Canada

Edited September 12, 2018 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[Xander Wildeisen]

Your are down to finding chunks of cars now. You have spotted every complete car in the Pacific North West.

[wayne sheldon]

That could be one worth chasing down and looking at closely! Not enough detail to be sure, but it could be a real early frame, and fairly valuable. OR, it could be a later frame cut down for some other use. It may be cut or modified enough to limit its usefulness, and be worth only a relatively few dollars. The rear cross member appears to be smooth (in a spot where the U-bolts go) where some later frames had a very slight offset, but the angle does not show it clearly.  The cross member also has rivets in the locations where the spare tire bracket was bolted on from 1919 onward. There are about a dozen minor details to look for to determine the actual vintage of the frame.

The odds are that it is a later frame that has been modified. However, earlier frames do show up with battery boxes that had been added later. I have a 1915/16 frame (based upon firewall bracket and fender mounting holes) that was drilled for a Ford factory battery box at some point in its existence. While the holes match the battery box just fine, they are not in quite the same location as the factory stamped holes in later frames. Many odd things can be found on old model T parts.

[keiser31]

Now I wish I had stopped to take a few more photos and maybe wait for the owner to show up to ask some questions.

[1937hd45]

The extra hand brake is the most interesting  feature, I really hope it is an add on and not an early two pedal two lever 1909 Ford chassis !

Edited September 12, 2018 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[keiser31]

I don't know if it's a clue, but you can see the quadrant between the handles. What years had that?

[Bloo]

I'm guessing it is an add-on. One lever is attached to a shaft going all the way to the other side of the frame, up high. The shaft in 1937hd45's picture shows a different setup.

[Mark Wetherbee]

The ad-on looks like a left hand Ruckstell shifter... 

[wayne sheldon]

There are several minor details why I did not believe the frame to be a two lever early '09. If you look very closely at the picture of the red car chassis that 1937hd45 posted, notice that the ratchet quadrant sets ALMOST an inch off the side of the frame rail (can't see the actual offset because of the angle of the camera shot). If you look as closely as you can in the OP photo, you can see that the ratchet quadrant is only about a half inch offset from the frame rail. The two lever early Ts needed more offset because of the two levers. The other thing (mentioned by Bloo) is that the second lever is in fact mounted above the frame rail. The two lever Ts had both levers mounted on a single shaft below the frame rail. You can pretty much see this in the picture posted by 1937hd45. The modification mounting a lever and shaft was a common thing done for a chassis modified for saw, pump, or other power supply uses for years after the T was done in.

Just for value comparison's sake. IF (and it is a really big IF) it IS a 1910 through early'13 frame? There is a frame of that general vintage for sale right now on the mtfca forum classifieds in said to be nice condition for $600. Been there for a little while, and last I heard, not sold yet. I do know of a couple that recently sold in that same price range (right around $600.) A genuine real '09 could go a bit higher. A true early '09 (known as a "fish plate" frame) could go considerably higher.

 

The original post photo may or may not be an early '13 or earlier. Just not enough important details showing for me to know. If it is? It looks messed up enough to not be worth the price of a nice early frame. If it is a later frame, it may be worth no more than maybe $50. If not cut, twisted, or badly damaged? Maybe $100.