Mike, before you do anything, put down the torches and post some pictures of the frame you have so we can see what you are starting with. An original 32 frame is worth serious money and even the K members go for big bucks, so you potentially could be destroying something of real value if you start removing parts and modifying it. Please post the pictures asap. Original 32 frames do not come along every day and are sought after.
The deal on any frame is that they need stiffening and the way they do that is by adding crossmembers. These can be either straight across, or in the shape of a K, or an X, or anything that accomplishes that task. You are getting bad information about them needing to be every one foot apart..........no one does that and it would be almost impossible to do. Every couple of feet maybe, but not one foot.
The C channel you have heard about can either be off the shelf stock from a steel supply house, if they have it in the right dimensions for what you need, or, you can have a steel supplier bend up a C channel out of something line 3/16 flat stock. That is what my Son did when he built the frame for his roadster pickup. He had them bend it up to his dimensions and then he cut and shaped it into a modified X member and then welded that in place.
If you truly have an original 32 frame there you are a lucky guy but you can destroy that very quickly by just tearing into it, not knowing how to do it correctly. PLEASE POST THOSE PICTURES.
Here is the frame my Son built for his car, showing the crossmembers he installed.
Don
And this is the model a frame I built for my 27.
