odyssey

Here's how I did it for my 1910: I had the stand-offs and anchors made at a local sheet metal shop: Parts as formed. Anchors were made to Franklin drawing style, yet taller. Anchor half plates were tack welded together., although not sure it was necessary. Stand-off's were made of equal height (the 1910 frame is not a drop center). I machined 1-1/4" pins and put a groove in the center for 1/2" truss rod stock, then welded the pins into the stand-offs. Anchor plate installed: Stand-off installed: 1/2" rod was used (easier to make than cables and less stretch) with turnbuckles and clevises shaped to fit on two stand-offs. All is hidden. I did this in 2011 and the cost to me for cutting and forming of the stand-offs and anchor pieces was about $180. I jacked the car up at the points I chose for the stand-offs and let the car hang over a winter while I turned the turnbuckles a bit every week or so. The anchor plates are under TREMENDOUS tension. It requires good, solid wood and a tight fit to the underside of the frame rail. Funny thing is - I did not really need to do this on this car, but wanted to take some stress off the original frame. Saggy springs was the real culprit and I am addressing that now. But the truss system is firm & solid and holding all things up nicely. A new frame is always better, but a big job.... Tom Rasmussen

Thanks Dick. I Got a good one from Bob Erickson. They would be quite simple to make, but I was happy that Bob had one that he was happy to see go to a car. Shop_car_1923_Franklin_Brule_Album.jpg

Thanks. I've got one on the way, hoping I can make it work. Tom

Series 9 used a case hardened pin in hardened steel bushings. The biggest problem with them is lack of lubrication as they were designed for oil and often had grease zerks installed later on in place of the oilers. Grease cannot get to the joints as the pins have felt wicks to allow the oil to migrate to the bushings. You might find that if you disassemble and clean everything, they may be O.K. The 9 pins were fitted with a lot of clearance. Oftentimes a rebuilder will fit them far too tight and stiff steering results. The book has specs. tom

I've found that loose spring mounts to frame connections, loose spring pivot bolt thrust adjustments, loose steering ball/sockets (you can tighten the socket plug as per book instructions), worn steering sector shaft bushings are bigger culprits than worn king pins. There are a lot of joints on that whole front end. tom

Does anybody have a Series 9 or 10 Hand throttle quadrant (base of steering gear) for my 1923 10B? Dwg 29785, or 27333 - see attachment Thanks - Tom Rasmussen

Alex - The factory referred to this as "Wheel Wabble". There are a great many potential factors that can contribute to it - all of them related to front end connections & adjustment. I have always avoided a steering damper (and removed a fair number of them) as it is only masking a problem that is correctable and it changes the wonderful light feel of the Ser. 11 steering. The 1st and simplest thing to try and often the cure is to balance the front wheels and be sure tire pressure is up. Nicely balanced wheels with factory toe-in and castor can run smooth and wabble free, even with significantly worn steering & spring connections. Give it a whirl if you haven't tried those things already and let me know. That car should be as fun to drive as it is to look at. tom

Someone was making these - I bought a set at a Trek not too long ago. I wonder if Randy Fusco might know? tom

I'm sorry I had to cancel my trek travel plans last week. Bummer - I have never before missed two Treks in a row (since 1981)! I will be doing some prep work for the upcoming New London to New Brighton Antique Car Run. I think I heard there are Seven Franklins registered (all must be 1908 or older), so this will be quite a showing for Franklin! Have a great Trek Week! tom

Wouldn't it be nice if it was that simple? Since brakes are pretty important, as in life or death important, it sounds like it's time to pull the master cylinder. And since that's likely in need of serious help from age and storage, likely a good idea to check brake hoses and wheel cylinders as well. You might be able to free it up and install a kit, but unless you are comfortable and experienced, or have good help close by, I recommend sending it out for repair as the early Lockheed master cylinders are quirky and no fun to take out again when they don't work after the 'rebuild' (guess how I learned this!) Brake and Equipment Warehouse in Minneapolis,MN does a good job with the odd, box-style 1928-29 master cylinders. You could send them the master, wheel cylinders and brake hoses and get all back restored in plenty of time to enjoy the car this summer. 612-378-3141. Talk to Rob in the shop. He does lots of these for Franklin, Stutz, etc. for cars all over the world (also all other brake systems for all early cars) Otherwise consider getting some help from someone nearby who knows the system and has restored them before. It's just not worth taking chances with brakes. Tom Rasmussen

Art - No free-play is the clue... Have you gone through the procedure to loosen the two large adjusting bolts in the curved slots on the clutch cover? The bolt heads move clockwise, from the rear view, toward the right part of the curved slot to add free-play. Once the bolt heads are all the way to the right, at the end of the slot, then new clutch linings are needed. This adjustment is the critical clutch adjustment and the linkage should never need to be adjusted to add or reduce free play, But, perhaps things changed when you changed the throw-out bearing - so you will have to play with it to get it to work. The adjusting bolts in the slots should only be as far to the right of the slot as necessary to get the linkage to work and have 1/2" or so of free play at the pedal. The further to the left of the slot you can go, the lighter the clutch action. Let me know how you make out. Tom Rasmussen .

Hi Dean - Champion W-18 is the correct plug I think the new part number is 518. Your auto parts dealer can check the cross reference Tom Rasmussen

Hi Art - How much Pedal Free-Play do you have? Tom

Anybody have a restorable back window frame for a convertible - 1928 - 1230 Roadster & Conv coupe. 21" x 7" Made by KANTLEAK. Die cast & aluminum, not steel. I'm looking for a correct frame for a current restoration. Drawing # 37914 Thanks - Tom Rasmussen

That's It - My usual 'Brain Trust' said it looked like an Olds, but could not confirm. Thanks! Tom Rasmussen

This one has me stumped. Any ideas?

Good job, Bob! tom

Hi Bob - a blade tool is inserted through the hub from the opposite end and engages two slots. You have to make the tool from flat stock and grind the end to fit, then clamp it in a vise. Using another similar tool on the two slots in the throw out collar will unscrew it. You must compress the pressure plate so that it does not spring apart when the collar is completely unscrewed. Tom Rasmussen

Vivian LaVine bought the business. Www.pulferandwilliams.com tom

Hi Art - Orignal bearings are Thrust ball bearings. You can still get them - they are expensive. 307 RT (100% thrust) and #305 RT (100% thrust) You can replace them directly with Timken Roller and race bearings. I am not certain of the numbers, but if you take the original thrust bearings to a bearing shop (or call), they can match up the Timken parts. I hope that helps - Tom Rasmussen

Hi Jim - It's very helpful to perforam as many tests as you can before pulling parts off so we can zero in on the problem area. A couple ideas: Pull the spark plug wire at the #6 plug (and ground the wire) and then run the engine again and listen. Does the lighter noise at idle change? Does the lighter noise change when the engine is full hot vs cold? Then drive the car with the wire off. Does the banging noise change? If the 'banging' does not change, try the plug wire grounding on each of the other plugs one at a time to see if the banging noise changes. It is possible you have two noises in two different cylinders. I am less concerned about the #6 noise at idle and much more concerned about the louder noise. The fact that you cannot get the louder noise to happen just revving the engine is a good sign. Keep us posted - tom

Hi Jim - It sounds as if the best move is to pull the cylinder. Are you sure #6 is the one that bangs loudly under acceleration? It could be one or more of several problems. Once you pull the cylinder, you will be able to find the problem. The valve cage comes off easily after the two bolts up top and the tube clamp down below are removed. You can usually pull the jug without disturbing the manifolds, but you might need to loosen one manifold to install a single cylinder. With the valve cage off, remove the cylinder base nuts, plug wire, spark plug and run the piston to bottom. You'll want to remove the hood and brace rod. Sometimes it easiest to climb up on the hood sills straddling the engine and reach down and pull the cylinder straight up. If it's stuck, you can run a couple base nuts back on a few threads, install the spark plug and hit the starter (ignition off!) to loosen the jug. Once it is off, let us know what you see... Feel free to call if needed 763-786-1518 Tom Rasmussen

Hi Martin - I understand what you are saying now. The pioneer sleeve is a press fit onto the hub. We drive it on with a flat piece of wood and it goes on just fine, but if it does not start straight, it will cock and bind. If the fan hub had ridges from ACME thread wear, perhaps there is some raised metal that needs to be polished down? We have never run into this. With the sleeve pressed all the way on (to the flange on the sleeve end), the seal rides on it about 3/16 - 1/4" in from the edge of the sleeve. Perhaps you need to fit your seal deeper into the timing cover? I hope this helps - tom

Hi Martin - Did you get the harmonic balance sleeve or the CR Speedi-Sleeve? I'm not sure if the speedi sleeve is narrower, but there is no issue with the harmonic balance sleeve. Push it all the way onto the fan hub and all fits just fine. You also have a little leeway in terms of locating the seal in the timing cover, but really - this has never been an issue, so I'm not sure I completely understand how you are lookign at it or measuring. If it still does not work out on paper for you - send me a photo or two. I seem to have lost my understanding of how to add a photo to replies, so will send you one via PM. tom

Hi Martin - My apologies - in haste, I grabbed the wrong seal # Thanks for pointing out the sizes. We have used multiple seals over the years. All of them have worked well, but the one we tend to favor now is a CR23300 for a 2.328" shaft size 3.000 housing bore This one gives a bit more 'bite' to the HB4123 over the 23641. We have used it successfully with very careful alignment, but clearly it is not the best choice. We have also used a CR23046 which is for a proper 2.312 shaft size. This is the seal to use if not using a hub repair sleeve (if your fan hub surface is clean and you can polish it up nicely). We have also used this with a hub repair sleeve with good success, but it is a bit crowded over the hub sleeve. By the way, the Chicago Rawhide sleeve for the 2.312 fan hub is 99231. It may have a smaller OD than the Chevrolet harmonic balancer sleeve... I don't use it primarily due to cost and poor availability from other seal vendors. Sorry for the confusion - sometimes there are multiple answers. tom