Automotive

A compilation from the Franklin Series 11 Parts Book combining the listing of wiring, with wire sizes, colours and the types of terminals on the ends of the wires. In a small number of cases the wire is more than one wire made as a part, so a 5 digit Franklin Drawing number is given with no wire specifications. The terminals are “decoded” with the diagram at the end of this post that shows the type and dimensions of the various specified terminals. The most common type – “30 x 31” is mentioned in more detail in this posting.  

	Reference Number	Drawing Number	Description	Length	Wire Code	Wire Size	Wire Colour	Terminals
Starting Motor and Switch	R-5722	4×816	Starting switch to starting motor wire	9½			Black
	R-5725	4×99	Starting Switch to Feed Terminal Block	26	4 x 13	#8	Black	30 x 22 30 x 24
Battery Indicator (Ammeter) Wiring	R-5726	4×910	Ammeter to Feed Terminal	42	4 x 13	#8	Black	2 – 30 x 24
	R-5727	4×2446	Ammeter to Generator Terminal	46½	4 x 22	#12	Brown	30 x 31 30 x 15
Generator Wiring	R-5730	32179	Generator and Ignition wire assembley
Ignition Wiring	R-5732	4×2447	Ignition switch to ignition terminal	46½	4 x 17	#14	Red	2 – 30 x 31
	R-5733	27778	Ignition instrument to spark coil wire	7	48 x 3	Spark Plug Wire
	R-5734	4×2448	Ignition switch to battery indicator (Ammeter)	7	4 x 17	#14	Red	30 x 15 30 x 31
	R-5736	4×2421	Spark Coil to Ignition Instrument wire	15	4 x 17	#14	Red	2 – 30 x 31
	R-5738	4×2425	Ignition instrument ground	6	4 x 25	#14	Yellow	30 x 11 30 x 12
Primer Wiring	R-5740	4×97	Primer switch to battery indicator (Ammeter)	9	4 x 13	#8	Black	30 x 23 30 x 24
	R-5741	4×912	Primer switch to primer terminal block	40	4 x 13	#8	Black	30 x 23 30 x 24
	R-5742	4×911	Primer coil to primer terminal block	34	4 x 13	#8	Black	30 x 24 30 x 25
Horn Wiring	R-5743	4×2445	Battery indicator to horn fuse	45½	4 x 16	#14	Yellow w 2 Blue	30 x 15 30 x 31
	R-5744	32177	Horn wire assembley
	R-5746	4×2460	Horn button to binding post	46½	4 x 15	#14	Tan w 1 Red	30 x 13 30 x 31
Lighting Wiring	R-5748	4×2454	Lighting switch to panel fuse wire	44½	4 x 16	#14	Yellow w 2 Blue	2 – 30 x 31
	R-5749	4×2459	Panel lamp to panel fuse wire	71	4 x 16	#14	Yellow w 2 Blue	30 x 17 30 x 31
	R-5752	4×2458	Panel lamp to tail light wire terminal block	45	4 x 17	#14	Red	30 x 17 30 x 31
	R-5753	32180	Tail and stop light wire complete
	R-5757	4×2449	Stop light switch to fuse wire	46½	4 x 15	#14	Tan w 1 Red	30 x 13 30 x 31
	R-5758	4×2450	Lighting switch to bright fuse wire	46½	4 x 19	#14	Green w 2 Yellow	2 – 30 x 31
	R-5760	32178	Headlight cable complete with terminals
	R-5764	4×2451	Lighting switch to dimmer fuse wire	46½	4 x 25	#14	Yellow	2 – 30 x 31
	R-5766	4×2453	Dome light switch to panel wire	26½	4 x 15	#14	Tan w 1 Red	30 x 15 30 x 31
		4×2473	Dome lamp switch to panel lamp wire	46½	4 x 15	#14	Tan w 1 Red	30 x 15 30 x 31
	R-5768	4×2452	Dome light switch to dome light fuse wire	40½	4 x 15	#14	Tan w 1 Red	2 – 30 x 31
	R-5770	4×1519	Dome light door switch to dome light fuse wire	152	4 x 15	#14	Tan w 1 Red
	R-5771	4×1525	Dome light door switch to dome light wire	129	4 x 15	#14	Tan w 1 Red
	R-5772	4×2444	Dome light door switch to panel lamp wire	186	4 x 16	#14	Yellow w 2 Blue	1 – 30 x 17
	R-5773	4×2432	Dome light to ground wire	135	4 x 14	#14	Black	1 – 30 x 16
		4×2482	Cigar lighter and trouble lamp to ammeter wire	22	4 x 16	#14	Yellow	30 x 15 30 x 31

This table is available to download as a single page PDF or a two page PDF. The image below shows the different types of wire specified by Franklin for use in the car – not a whole lot of choices and colours needed.

  The image below shows the different types of terminals that Franklin specified for use on the wiring in the car.

Many of the wiring connections on my 1926 Franklin are made with ring terminals as shown in these images. The wire is wrapped around the end of the terminal and then the “legs” folded over like an eyelet/rivet as used in clothing, shoes, etc. 

Franklin refers to them as Reference Number R-5813, Drawing Number 30×31, “Wire Terminal. Light friction type (3/16″ hole) Hand punch for attaching 30 x 31 terminals can be secured from United Shoe Machine Co., Boston, Mass.”

Several hours of searching online have failed to reveal anyone selling these in 2016 – 90 years later, but did turn up the patent applied for in 1923, granted in 1928 for the machine to put these terminals on the wire. See https://www.google.com/patents/US1677968. 

Thursday was supposed to be “ride a bicycle around some of the Carriage Road” day, but it rained pretty much all day, so that idea got put on hold (or probably actually cancelled for 2010). The afternoon saw us heading off to see the Seal Cove Auto Museum – “The Brass with the Class”. We had been before in 2008 (I think it was), just as they were getting ready to sell a sizable portion of the collection in order to be able to settle the estate of the founder of the museum who had died. While there we took the opportunity to become “Charter Members” of the museum.

Below is a photo gallery of the radiator emblems of some of the cars that are remaining.

How to remove the spark plug boots from a 2002 GM Chevrolet Camaro V6 engine without losing all your knuckle skin.

Our 2002 Camaro has now done 99,000 miles, so with a trip “out East” coming up I figured it was time to change the spark plugs since they’re supposed to be changed at 100,000 miles. Of course nothing is as easy as it used to be, and the spark plugs are buried “way down there” on the sides of the V6 engine, half back under the windscreen on the car, with the spark plug boots sticking out through the exhaust manifold enough to see them, but barely enough to grip them. I did manage to pull one off “by hand” with the loss of only a small amount of skin, but couldn’t even move the other 5. So off to AutoZone (I had to buy the new plugs anyhow) to ask if they had a tool to pull these things off with. The only tool they had would have require removing the engine to be able to use it, at which time it wouldn’t be needed anyhow. So, with some Kiwi Ingenuity™ I devised the Kiwi Spark Plug Boot Puller, which worked amazingly well, and allowed me to pull the remaining 5 spark plug boots off in about 5 minutes.

The metal tube around the spark plug boots has a groove in it as can be seen on the #4 cylinder at the very bottom of the image above. It is enough to hold a shoelace that is doubled and tightened in a loop around the tube into the groove.

Here we see laces in the #6 and #4 cylinders

With the shoelace tightened in the groove, now you can pull directly outwards on the tube and spark plug boot, with zero strain on the actual spark plug wire. Slight wiggling up and down while pulling outwards helps to break the bond between the spark plug and the spark plug boot, allowing it to “pop” off.

Success!!!!

Comparison of olde and new – the olde plug has done 99,000 miles, and the tip is clearly worn down, but not by a whole lot – about .010″