!!!!!!!!Update of 1928 Franklin 12B 7 Passenger Airman Sedan at McPherson College!!!!!!!!

[Guest dtalbott13]

Hey fellow Franklin Members, my name is Drew Talbott. I am a recent graduate of McPherson College's 4 year Bachelors degree program. I had the great enjoyment and pride of working on our 1928 Franklin 12B 7 Passenger Airman Sedan for my senior project. So far last year, I ended up sorting through the parts and trying to organize them in a better fashion so that future students could find parts easier. I wrote up a log of every part I could find that was part of the car which for some reason isn't with the car currently.... anyways, I also managed to figure out what our running boards are a little bent and requires a piece of angle iron to hold them straight. I also managed to get all of the doors and the rear fenders in primer.

My main projects and goals were to fabricate the drivers side wheel well for the spare tire, and fabricate the driver side lower hood as there was neglect and misdirection from previous students that tried to fix the problems through other means and just made things worse. Anyway, I started working on the wheel well and started forming it. About halfway through the year, things started going down hill and I became very stressed. The more I came into the shop, the less I got finished. So long story short, I managed to get my first goal of organizing the parts on the parts rack finished, however I came up short with fabricating the wheel well and hood piece.

I wish I could have finished those pieces as I wanted to see the body, doors, hood, and fenders all in paint as I wanted to achieve something great in college. Things happen and plans change, I just wish I could have gotten farther. Anyways, I figure I would let the club know of the current progress of the project so you could get an idea.

Unfortunately, I feel I should share this with the Franklin Club that I have been given the task to start packing up the project and moving it to our storage facility as there isn't any interest in the project currently and we need the room for other projects. I have been deemed the expert on Franklin Automobiles in the School and as such I will take on the project to get it back together and move it to the storage facility unfortunately. In all of the craziness of my life, personal troubles and tribulations, I have learned a lot about these truly amazing automobiles and will continue to learn about them. I would love to own one like this one day. Actually if the time came up, I would purchase our schools project in a heart beat and finish restoring this fine automobile myself.

I hope this information has helped you all in keeping up on the project and keeping tabs on its whereabouts.... If anyone would like to reach me about the project or just want to talk as I would love to talk with some of you and pick your brains on not only this automobile but others and the company, feel free to call me on my cell phone at (574)-315-0445, or you can email me at dtalbott13@gmail.com.

I will also be at Hershey this year on red field spots RWO 20-23.

With Warm Regards,

Drew Talbott, 2013 Spring McPherson College Grad