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Part Two of the "Rescue The Franklin" Junkyard Dog Adventure was completed today. Mrs. Junkyard Dog and the Old Mutt piled into "Wimpy", the official Junkyard Dog pickup truck, and headed back to the field to rescue the rest of the remains of the old Franklin. We successfully completed the operation and brought home the complete transmission assembly, the twisted frame, the rear full elliptic springs, the bent up drive line, the steering column assembly and the complete rear end assembly.

This car went through a huge fire about 25 years ago and the fire must have been darned hot! The frame is so brittle that the mutt can bend it in his bare paws like Superman. At any rate, the car had wood spoke wheels with rear internal expanding brakes, and the emergency brake handle is mounted outboard of the frame on the left side. The transmission case is all cast aluminum like the engine block and the emergency brake is an external contracting brake assembly on the back of the transmission.

After looking at all of the remains this old Franklin definitely dates from the mid to late teens and judging by the size of the frame rails, this old car was a monster in size! According to the last owner of this mess, supposedly this old Franklin, at the time of the fire, and because of its body style was one of only two or three known to exist. Now....the next question is what body style was on this chassis? That will probably never be determined because the fire was so hot that the body completely melted down into a puddle and the frame buckled back on itself.

The mystery as to what year this old Franklin is continues! :eek:

Well, it looks like the old mutt has found a real challange this time! Good luck and keep us posted , please JYD.

Absolutely! And, as soon as I find out what year this Franklin is you guys will be the first to know.....that is if I ever find out!

CSI-Eagle Point :)

Ya man! Actually, this could be a smaller version of "Overhaulin'". Instead of Chip Foose we have "Skip Pooch"!

ROTFLOL

mutt: sent the old franklin club magazines monday. let us know if they are helpful. if not, send them to the aaca library in hershey. mike

Okay, will do and I will let you know when they arrive. Thanks Mike.......you did good!

JYD, check with the local newspaper morgues and see if the fire made the local newspapers.

If there are any older people in the area they might know something about it also.

No license plate for you to use but you might be able to research the local tax records for the license plate records.

Check with your clerk of the court and see if their records are on film and you could 'run' the name of the last owner or Franklin to see if the car was sold and the sale recorded or maybe it was part of a estate settlement or divorce.

Hope the mystery gets solved...

Gator...been there and done that! The Franklin was stored in a massive storage unit complex that burned down over 25 years ago. There is no listing as to what was in all of the storage units. The remains of the Franklin were hauled away for scrap, and, to get rid of it, the car ended up in a field 25 miles from where the storage units were located. The trail of the car ended at that point, since the dude that hauled away all of the scrap from the fire had no idea who originally owned the Franklin. :( :( :(

JYD
I have a call in to a fellow in Campbell River B.C. He has a 15 M8 Touring Franklin. Might be able to shed some light on your find I'll let you know what he says.
Dan.

Great! Thanks a lot.....I appreciate that! If he needs more information, tell him to call me at (541) 826-2177.

JYD,
Up until 16 the engine cooling fan would have been in the flywheel.Also 16 and earlier had a Mag with 17 and on would of had a Distributor.
Also another clue to it's year is the cooling fin directions horizontal or vertical. Let me know if this helps or not.

Hey Dan! That was a great help! The fan on this motor is on the flywheel. The cooling fins on the cylinders are vertical. The engine has a magneto...no distributor. There are no numbers on the magneto because of the fire. There is also, what appears to be, and external oil pump assembly on the outside, left rear of the oil pan. Also, there are two long cast iron motor mount arms located between the number two and number three cylinders. There is one arm on each side that attaches to the frame rail.

Does any of this help you to narrow down the year of the Franklin engine? Is there anything else that I should look for?

JYD
Sounds like you got a real piece of history there.
Trouble is finding enough more to complete the project.
Tony

Ya, this thing is way cool. However, now that it is an official "YO" (Yard Ornament), nothing will be done with the remains of the Franklin except to enjoy what's there.

Next to the 'flower car'?

Nope! It's up at my shop, outside under the large Chevrolet clock on the pole. It looks great sitting on the ground under the clock and it is the second thing that you see! The big Chevrolet clock is the first!

JYD,
We will have to wait till early next week as the Campbell River connection is on a Model T run to Victoria B.C. this weekend I'll ask your questions then. Have a good weekend admiring your new find.

Thanks Dan. Get back to me when you find the answers which will hopfully solve the mystery as to what year this Franklin is. :cool2:

Hey Dan! Here is an update on the remains of the Franklin: The fins on the cylinders are vertical which means the engine was made between 1912 and 1922. There are 60 vertical fins on each cylinder. The last patent date on the transmission is September, 1913, and the transmission serial number is either 093313 or 093318. The cooling fins are on the flywheel, not on the front of the engine, which also dates the engine prior to 1922. So far everything indicates that this could be either a Series 8 (1915-1916) or a Series 9. However, here is the problem. All Franklins had wood frames up until 1928 and this Franklin has a metal frame (a big one too), and the front axle is forged, not tubular as it should be. All four of the spring assemblies are full elliptical.

Check with your buddy to see what is going on with the metal frame, because it should be wood. The engine and transmission, according to the books are definitely 1922 or earlier. I can also supply details of the rear axle assembly if needed. This metal frame has me puzzled. :confused: :confused:

Mike McCagh: Received all of the Franklin material today and there is some great stuff in that literature. I am going to keep it all! Thanks for sending it buddy!

JYD,
Sorry for the long delay I lost a good Buddy to a hunting ATV accident Had to take some time to look after his affairs. Anyway I spoke with Dave about the Franklin . He is at a loss as to the metal frame . As you probably know when they went to the REO body in 28 was when they went to the metal frame as well. It would look like someone used the engine and the springs on a donor metal frame. Could you post a picture of it for us to see in it's final resting place.
Bye for now Dan.

Yes, I will work at getting a picture posted on this forum as soon as possible.

Hi Dan! Here are three photos of the Franklin engine in its final resting place as you requested. I was able to find an engine serial number of 19440, which apparently makes this engine a Series 1, probably made before 1916, and it could be as early as 1912. Also, sources tell me that only two other Series 1 Franklins are known with engine serial numbers starting with the prefix of "19".