size of 1930 Franklin headlights

[sunnybaba]

Hi Franklin brothers.. I bought a 1930 Franklin series 145 Delux Sedan once owned by Dick Lamphere, and it has sealed beam headlights installed in the Twilite 11 inch buckets... so I bought Lens, reflectors & outer rings from Mike West.... but they are 12 inches in diameter... and supposed to come from a 1930 series 145... What size were the original 1930 series 145, Franklin headlight buckets supposed to be..? Did Franklin come out with two different sizes of headlights during 1930...?  Depending on the body manufacturer ..?  Any help, understanding this size difference would be helpful....

[hook]

!930 145 & 147  had 11-1/2" lenses and the 1930 trans continent had something like 10+" size. The 1931 had 12" lenses. If your lenses are 12 inch they are 1931-32.

[PFitz]

It's a remote possibility. Franklin actually had three sizes of headlights for Series 14.

 

If your 145 was a late Series 14 production, it may have had the 12 inch Twilite headlights. When I was selling the repro 12 inch Twilite lenses for the Club I found that there were some late  production Ser. 14 that used the 12 inch head lights and lenses. The Series 14 parts book lists the cutoff car number in section 1600. 

 

The tail end of Series 14 also used a few other Series 15 parts, which is documented in the parts book and the factory blueprints. 

 

Paul 

[Walt G]

the series 153 of 1931 and the series 16a of 1932 used the same headlamps, rims, lens and reflectors.

[PFitz]

And, the  31 Series 151 Town Sedans and the Series 152, also used the 12 inch Twilites.

 

But the Series 14 rims and buckets are a bit different than the Series 15 and 16. When viewed from the side, instead of a bullet shape of the 15 & 16, they are more like a cylinder for  about the front half, and more like a cone shape for the  rear half.

 

paul 

Edited December 6, 2019 by PFitz (see edit history)

[sunnybaba]

As I have now taken the sealed beams out of the buckets...... I see that the space for the reflectors and lens... is 10.5 inches... and with the rim on it is 11 inches.... so this car must be a 1930 series 145 Trans Continental sedan, with the smaller headlights.....  Would anybody out there happen to have lens, rims and/or reflectors for sale, for  the smaller lights...?  😏  

[hook]

Just so you don't make any mistakes, here is a headlight bucket off of my 1930, 145 sedan that uses 11-1/2" Twilite lenses. Hope this helps.

 

Bill

[John_Mereness]

Good news is that there is always demand for 12" parts 

[Walt G]

I believe if memory serves me correctly that the 1930 cars although using twilight headlamps also saw the headlamp- rim itself with a flat edge all the way around, not a rounded (curved) from top front edge and the rear edge slightly tapered to match the main body of the head lamp. Best if you find a correct car and photograph what you need to look for.

Perhaps one of the auto museums mentioned (Michigan, NY, Arizona) with collections of Franklins would do you the courtesy of doing that for you since they are "in the business" of preservation? It would not take a lot of effort to take a cell phone photo of these from several angles.

[sunnybaba]

Here are photos of the Twilite buckets & outer rim that are on my Franklin.... as you can see they are less than 10.5 inches, (First photo) .. and, without the rim and about 10.75 inches from outer rim to outer rim.... (Second photo)

[mikewest]

Sunny , I have buckets in good shape. What I sent you are 1930 145 /147.  Lets talk tomorrow. after 9am eastern time.