Its hard to say about the frame until you start sand blasting it. I would smack it good with a hammer before had and try to get the scale off. My '53 had some bad rust, but it came out ok. the rear is pitted, but it doesn't hurt it.
I think that stuff on the front is either for a plow OR the frame broke somewhere up there (common on the 2As, but not very on the 3As) and someone "repaired" it. I see some more boogered up metal by the front bumper, so just take a good hard look for cracks.
My '53s frame. I had to replace the rear crossmember and the one right behind the transmission. I had a junk frame that still had a good one. I bought a new rear one.
