Steve Braverman

I'd like to find a radio for my PA Plymouth. According to new car advertisements, the car is wired for a Philco Transitone. Does anyone have one they'd like to sell? Or, can somebody post a photo or some info, so I know what I'm looking for?

Considering that the lawn tractor starter-generator is designed to be used with a flywheel pulley that is about 10" in diameter, and the flywheel on your Overland is probably at least twice that, the torque should be sufficient. Of course, there's one sure way to find out.

Hi Gordon, I have a 10B parts car. All the hand brake stuff is still there, but I don't know how good it is. It should be ok. I will look later this week.

The paint on my '32 Plymouth is looking sad. I want to spruce it up for Louisville next year. I've compounded some spots and it shines up fairly well. I'd like to use my buffer/polisher to speed up the job. Should I use a wool pad or a foam pad? Or, should I suck it up and do the whole car by hand? Of course, I realize that the sections where the paint is lifting is beyond polishing, but I feel that I can still improve this car's appearance by 100%.

Good luck finding one. Of course, if you win the powerball, you can have one made.

Yes, an 18A sedan will have a number that begins with 183- and end with L11. However, what are your intentions with this car? If you are considering trying to collect everything to make it back into a car, I would suggest looking for another complete car in rough condition to use as as a parts car. There are many out there.

It would be perfect for a depot hack or speedster project.

I was at an estate sale near Allentown about ten years ago, and there were two Olympic sedans that were sold. One went to a guy who was supposedly going to street rod it, this might be that car. Both cars were very complete and solid. There was a ton of parts sold at the auction. I got a few Olympic wheels and other goodies.

According to the Franklin Club Registry, there are seven 1930 Pursuits, and only the one 1931 Pursuit pictured above. There have also been a few replica bodies made, one in steel by Tom Hubbard and placed on a deluxe chassis (which was never available) and a couple of fiberglass bodies made in California by Rich Alford. I agree with Bob on the rear spare and blackwalls. As for the chrome wheels, many people do it, and it may have been available, but they look tacky to me, and I've never seen them on an original car.

Here is a photo of the car that 1910_Anon was referring to: http://www.franklincar.org/Trek03/03trek132.htm

Here is a photo of a Franklin Pursuit to satisfy Mr. Peterson http://www.franklincar.org/INFO/1930Series145Pusuit.htm Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is the car that was rolled over at the Trek a few years ago when its brakes failed. Very sad, but nobody was killed. I couldn't find a photo of the red & black car from HAC. Perhaps 1937HD has one?

The car came with a Franklin Data plate. There is no Reo identification anywhere on the car, but there is a Reo number stamped on the chassis. As Dave pointed out, there is a Hayes body tag on the floor near the driver's door.

The Red & black pursuit from the HAC is beautiful. However, the 1931 Pursuit that 1910_Anon is referring to is very well-known to me. I'm not sure why is was referred to an "odd collection of parts," as it is really a very correct and complete car. It was repainted in the late 40s in an unfortunate color, but it remains a very solid and authentic Pursuit. I have driven it many times, and it's fantastic.

Of course there is no way to enforce any rule requiring a person to return an award. If I were either selling or buying a First Place winning car, I would want the plaque left on the car. I never thought that someone would fraudulently attach an AACA badge to a car for the purpose of falsely representing a car. Some people have no morals.

I wouldn't hold your breath. The Pursuit is the holy grail of Franklins. This one just popped up on eBay. Having two series 10 cars in the family, I can say they are probably the most fun to drive. This one is probably worth about half of what he's asking. Other Makes:eBay Motors (item 330378080504 end time Nov-26-09 14:59:39 PST)

I am very glad that this was resolved. Finally, my complaining amounted to something

Most of the trucks I see have the tailpipe on the passenger's side. In fact, I notice that school buses have the pipe modified to run across the back so that they exit on the driver's side.

Hi Dave, The horns are mounted to the headlight stanchions, which are relocated from their original position on the fenders due to the Franklin's longer hood. (Does yours have the plugs in the fender from the original headlight mounting?) This modification would have been done in Syracuse. The Hayes people would have had nothing to do with the fenders, those were made in Lansing, as was most of the car. I have heard that Franklin painted the cars, although I don't know if that makes any sense. I also heard that Franklin was paying about $400 per car to Reo for the unfinished cars and selling them for $1385-1500. Not a bad deal. It could have saved them if they could have built more. The 18B uses a different horn than the 18A, maybe it was changed because of hood bashing, but a more annoying problem is the hood hitting the headlights, which are much more expensive to replace or repair. The 18A horn has the outlet under the bell, while the 18B horn has the trumpet coming out the front of the bell. (The 18B horn sounds much nicer too.) I've seen some Olympics with actual holes in the headlights from the hood being dropped on them.

Isn't the engine just behind the driver on an A100?

I recently got the build sheet for my PA. There is a special order number that is almost the same as the paint code, which is 1396-40. I've been told that these codes have been lost. Somebody must know what they mean.

The entire car essentially was a Reo except the engine, hood, grill, and other minor trim (hubcaps, instrument cluster...). Franklin reported did the entire tooling for under $5,000. The hardest part was a specially cast bell housing. Other parts were really hacked (the air cleaner housing was mashed with a hammer to clear the steering box and the front splash apron was cut with snips. They are all smashed and cut a little different depending on who was working the line that day. This could in fact be a Reo, without the guts, it essentially is a Reo. However, I think more Franklin Olympics survived than Reo Flying Clouds. My car has had its pedigree questioned by a notable Franklin "authority," but I have the original data plate with the serial number that clearly identifies it as an Olympic convertible. As for the door pillars, they are mostly hidden by the doors when they are closed, so there is no belt trim on them.

Blaze, Thanks for the kind words, but I never claim to be an expert in anything. You will find the Reo number stamped on the frame, but that won't tell you anything. Franklin Olympics are somewhat rare with about 1500 built. However, there are many sedans that are waiting restorations and unfortunately, a few have been hacked into street rods. It appears that most of what makes this car a Franklin is missing. If the body is clean, there are many Olympic sedans out there with bodies that are really sad. Maybe you could make one car out of two. To hunt down everything to build this car would be a huge undertaking. If you are interested, there are a few Olympic sedans currently available for not too much money. Here are some pictures of what I have. I have a long way to go, but with only about 10 Olympic convertibles left, I'll have something special when it's done. By the way, the Franklin Olympic had the highest power to weight ratio of any car of 1933 except for the Duesenberg SJ. The Reo had about 65hp, Franklin stuffed their 100hp engine into the car to make quite a little hot rod in its own right.

This may seem like a silly question, but why do almost all pickups have the tailpipe exiting out the side while everything else has the tailpipe straight out the back? There are some exceptions, like I noticed some newer small trucks with the pipes out the back, and my old Suburban had them out the side. I'm only asking because the new Dodge ram has them out the back on some of the higher end trucks and it looks cool. I've seen aftermarket exhausts on trucks with dual pipes under the bumper also, but never factory.

From what I can see, it is a 1933 Olympic Series 18A. I have the convertible coupe version of the same car. It was Franklin's junior car, and is essentially a Reo Flying Cloud fitted with a Franklin engine and hood-front. They are great cars. The data plate should be on the firewall on the driver's side.