Saw a Cessna with a 165 HP Franklin that says it was converted in the 60's. Anybody know anything about this engine? Sounds like the Franklin company has seen some hard times, and parts for these older plants may not be available now.

If this is one for sale, I'm guessing it belongs to my friend Jim in Bellingham. He's had it for a long time, I'm guessing it's a good one. The 165 Franklin engine is approved on the 170 type certificate, it's not an STC'd installation. Ask around among the Stinson 108 crowd with regards to maintaining this engine, parts availability, etc. They don't seem to be junking too many 108's due to lack of Franklin stuff. There are some converted to bigger engines (Lyc, Cont, & Frank), but still plenty flying behind the original 150 & 165 Franklins.
Lil Red Aero in Nebraska (or somewhere like that) comes to mind on overhauls, and I met some folks at the NW-EAA (Arlington) fly-in a couple years ago from Oklahoma or maybe Baja Oklahoma (Texas) who have a shop specializing in Franklin cylinders.

Eric

Zane,

Talk to Jerry DeBattista in Grants Pass, he's a 165 Franklin Guru. Seem's to be the engine he overhauls the most and he's well known by the Stinson crowd.

165 cranks and cylinders and other critical parts are becoming scarce to non-existant.