Originally Posted by
USAZorro
The fork needs to have a steerer tube that's long enough to accommodate the headset as well as fitting in the head tube. If not, you won't be able to have the fork properly secured to the bicycle, and you'll be riding a time-bomb, if you can put a stem and bars on it at all. The consensus is - it is doubtful that the steerer is long enough for the size of your head tube.
Thanks a lot - makes sense. Also, thanks for the tips on how to decide whether or not to keep the frame. This is all helping me to plan out what I'll do. I'm also bringing the frame into an LBS today to have it looked at more closely - will post later to let people know what the outcome is