Frank

Frank is named after the town where he was found, Franklin Ohio.  This Cub was listed on Craigslist as a 1957.  I was looking for a multi-bar grill at the time so I thought I might as well check this one out.

I sent the seller an email and left my cell number. He emailed back his phone number pretty quickly so I gave him a call.  I asked about the stainless hood emblems and the owner said it had decals.  I told him a 1957 should have emblems and not decals so I asked about

the grill.  The owner said it had a wire mesh grill and not a multi-bar.  I got a little suspicious so I asked if he had a serial number.  He

said he didn’t know where to look so I told him.

The owner called back later and said the serial number was 102xxx.  I told him that number was for a 1950 Cub.  He said he was told it was a 1957 and just figured that was what he had. Knowing this was in the demonstrator serial number range, I told him I would still like to see it and he said it was sitting in weeds and he would have to pull it out. That’s when I learned that it had been sitting for the past ten years and had not been started.  That concerned me but didn’t stop me from going to see it.

It was an hour drive to get to Franklin and a slight rain had fallen off and on all day.  I figured it was a gloomy day so I knew I shouldn’t be surprised to see a pile of rust sitting in the driveway when I arrived.  After ten years of sitting, I expected the engine to be locked up as well as every piece of tin looking like Swiss cheese.

When I pulled in I was surprised to see a fairly nice IH muffler sticking in the air topped off with a raincap.  That gave me hope that the exhaust had not drank ten years worth of rain water.  I had brought my hand crank along so I could check to see if the engine was locked just in case.

When I got out of the truck I noticed a pretzel shaped hand crank sticking out of the front of the Cub.  I suspected the engine was tighter than a bass drum and the owner twisted the crank into a new shape trying to force it loose.  To my glee, I grabbed the crank and found the engine turned over fairly well.  This Cub had promise after all.

The clutch pedal is stuck and the PTO lever appears to be frozen as well.  The tin is very straight so little needs to be done with that other than refinishing.  Both front tires as well as one rear tire are rotted almost off the rims so it goes with out saying that tires are definitely in order.

We worked out a favorable deal and loaded up.  This Cub is now mine and it may or may not turn out to be white some day.

The tires are shot and new ones will be needed.  For as long as it sat the wheels held up well.