>>2007638Other guy is right that your goals of "thru axel and bb" are dumb. Your bike is either qr or thru axel and trying to change that is dumb af.
But he's wrong in that old steel can't fit big tires. Most old road bikes definitely can't go big..but there's a huge range of old steel, you could find a nice old tourer which would easily fit 38's. Or a 27 inch rim roadie which would take bigger tires if you dropped to 700c. Finally, you could always look into a 650b conversion of you find a truly special frame. But be sure to measure a lot before you go to all THAT trouble...
Your goal is fundamentally gold, and if this place specalizes in steel frames I'm sure you'll be spoiled for choice. My recommendation is to find a touring frame with cantilevers brake mounts and go from there. Will give you a robust frame that fits big tires with least amount of hassle
