I'm amazed at the wealth of knowledge on this forum... I came here to learn about Model T's since I decided to purchase this project, but in all honesty I have to say, the breadth of history lessons, the photographic journals of tours and other photos that allow us to peek into time when America was growing up back in the day are just a huge bonus...

This is becoming one of my favorite sites to visit daily... I think I'm starting to understand your passion for these cars has a lot more depth than the cars themselves, but the history behind the cars, the ongoing developments and subtle nuances of each passing model year... the history of the company and people behind it, and how important this singular car impacted not only the United States, but the World itself... Can you imagine the type of courage it took to take this road in your Model T or like during those times? (And yes, for the record I know it's a Franklin but a great shot either way).



From what I can gather, you're all just one amazing group of folks... and I can see why it would take literally a lifetime to learn "most" of what is out there and your willingness to share is greatly appreciated.

Oh yea... latest schedule of my car arrival is this Tuesday and I got a huge bonus... I paid for open carrier but the truck that picked it up is enclosed!

Ya see !!! Good things happen at this forum !!!

George
n L.A.

Al,

It took my first T a Month to get to me, from upstate New York to San Diego, it's like the sizzel of the Steak. I got involved here before my foot hit the starter.

Alex

Well said, Al.

My sentiments exactly Al.
I bought a Model T to make a Hot Rod out of it. I had never owned a stock one. I quickly realized it was just too complete and original to cut up.
I don't know what I would have done without the guys here, I didn't know a thing about a Model T.
Compared to most here, I still don't!
Without the help of the folks here I wouldn't be driving mine around today.

It's no accident these people took a Franklin, which may have been several years old:
-----

1902 The first production Franklin is sold (now in the Smithsonian.) It has a 4 cylinder overhead valve engine mounted crosswise in the front, (You thought this was a new idea?), along with the first float carburetor and the first throttle control. It depends on forward motion to provide air flow for cooling, just as airplanes do today.

1904 A little Franklin roadster sets a record of 33 days coast to coast, beating the old record of 61 days superiority.

1905 First six-cylinder car in America. It is turned inline, requiring a cooling fan. It has overhead valves, of course. (This is the barrel hood model in the album.)

1906 Six-cylinder Franklin halves the old coast to coast record, making the trip in 15 days.

rdr

Ralph,
Found an ad one time in the Saturday Evening Post from the early 30's, which featured Death Valley Scotty & his Franklin, said he'd never own anything but, in 120 degree heat.

Are we on the wrong thread.

Alex

Ralph,

Wrong thread or not, the Tucker used Franklin helicopter engines.

Alex

They were fixed wing engines first, Alex. Aircooled Motors, Inc, was started by ex-Franklin engineers after the 1934 bankruptcy of the car co. They built modular engines until the war - for both cars and planes.

I got interested in Franklin cars because my 1946 Bellanca had a 165 hp Franklin engine. Tucker bought Franklin, and put water jackets on the heads of the 165 to keep buyers happy.

From the Franklin car, I got into the T.

The ultimate development of the Franklin engine was the 435hp supercharged flat eight used in the N-9M flying wing.

All of which just goes to show validation of Al's opening post. These threads do drift off into other (and interesting) topics from time to time, but this is definitely a good place to learn. As long as the posts stay away from politics, we all can benefit from them.

Mike,
I've learned a lot here, like the time I put coil box lid on backwards & couldn't start. Sometime the drifting gets more interesting than the original thread.

Ralph,

What's the year of that flying wing? Only one I've seen was in "War of the Worlds" where it drops the A-bomb on the Martians.

Alex

One could draw the line from the N9M to the XB-35 and YB-49 Flying Wings, then to the B-2 thus proving that antique cars are the true root of all useful technology.

Allright, its a stretch...