Restoration of Canadian Scout Car Ford Lynx I, Mk.III No.1726

[lynx42]

I have been meaning to start this thread for 2 years as the Corowa Swim-In 2014 was "The year of the Ford and WWI". I had the choice of either an LP2A Bren Gun Carrier (No.2250) or this Canadian Scout car Ford Lynx I. Mk.III No. 1726 ARN. 123980 to rebuild and display. The Lynx won out as I thought it would be more useable on the road.

.For about 38 years I have been collecting parts to restore one of the 170 (or is it 171?) Canadian Ford Lynx.I. Mk.III Scout Cars supplied during WWII to Australia. My father drove one during WWII and often spoke of the "Golf-Ball” or “Doodle-Bug" as they were colloquially known in OZ. We have one photo of him sitting on the left front mudguard of one. So that is where the interest comes from.

Australia received 170 Lynx’s from Canada (some sources say 171), and they were used with the 1st Armoured Corps. In 1946, 109 were sent to Japan to be used as Policing vehicles as it was found that the Japanese roads could not carry the weight of the Staghounds sent for the job. These 109 Lynx’s were eventually returned to Australia and then disposed of during the 1950’s

I discovered the cut down chassis and hull of No.1726 at Benambra Victoria, then owned by one Charlie McCallum.

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Charlie purchased it from Disposals around 1956/7 and took it to his farm at Benambra to use as a paddock bomb. Unfortunately for Charlie, but fortunate for me, was that the Ford Lynx had an Achilles heel, it was very hard on rear diffs. In fact there is an instruction plate with the following direction right next to the driver’s right ear.

-CAUTION -

“THIS VEHICLE MUST ALWAYS WITH FRONT WHEEL DRIVE ENGAGED WHEN CONDITIONS ARE SUCH THAT FULL OR NEAR FULL THROTTLE IS USED IN REVERSE FIRST OR SECOND GEAR”

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I guess that Charlie did not take heed of this and promptly blew the rear diff. Unable to find another, the hull was cut up and the engine removed. Fortunately for me, the removed parts were placed in the shed in boxes. Even many small nuts, bolts and washers were first put back together and thrown into a box. The cut off hull parts were used for many purposes around the farm. The complete 1 ¼ inch thick front windscreen/hatch section complete with all hatches and opening levers was oxy cut off about 1958 and placed onto a set of discs for extra weight. This piece was located in 1998 standing up against a fencing corner post about 5 miles from the rest of the vehicle, up on a high country bush block. Apparently it had fallen off the discs and being heavy, was too much trouble to bring back. This was a great find. Many parts were found in a Hawthorn bush thicket. Hawthorn bushes have very sharp long spikes and are not to be reckoned with. The roof rack bars had to be cut through to recover them as the Hawthorn bush trunk had grown up through it.

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Charlie McCallum would not sell anything, as some of you will know. He had a couple of Dodge Weapons carriers sitting there and a few other things which many had tried to purchase without success. One of those Dodges WC’s had the Lynx lifting rings welded into the rear bumper bar as towing rings.

I tried for many many years to purchase the Lynx from him but to no avail. One day I thought I would try again so armed with the usual slab of VB beer which I would often share with him, I went to Benambra once again. To my surprise Charlie said “Have you got $200.00? I asked what for and he said that I had worn him down and if I gave him $200.00, the Lynx remains were mine. Benambra is about 155km from home and I was back the next day with the money. Finally I was the owner of a Lynx chassis and some fittings.

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I will keep the story going so if your interested, hang in there.

Regards Rick.

[lynx42]

I asked where the engine was as there was no sign of it but the unusual Lynx gear-box was there. Charlie said “I know where that is, it is in a speed boat.” And he took me to one of his sheds which had always been locked each time I had been there before. On opening the door there was no sign of any boat just a complete mess with junk stacked
5 feet high and on a dirt floor under which rabbits had set up home. Much stuff was covered in dirt from their burrow diggings. In fact I dug through some of this in later years and found many parts which had been placed under a bench and eventually covered with the burrow’s spoil.

Further searching in this dimly lit shed as I could only partially open the PA door, displayed a mound of old army blankets, bits of tarps and much other junk and under this mound I could just see the shape of an ancient speedboat. There was too much junk to uncover the boat but I was able to open the art deco engine hatch and view the engine. It was Engine No 3G85015F which was the correct engine for Hull No. 1726. The engine had been found. Was it for sale? The answer was no, not at the moment. I was not able to see the whole boat as it had so much rubbish covering it, BUT it looked interesting and on later investigation showed that it was a very early ‘tail dragger’ hydroplane. It has now been identified as the earliest 3 pointer in Australia.

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The years went by and the boat and motor remained in the shed covered up. Many people knew about it and some said that it had been promised to them but no one had ever been able to recover it. So more about the boat later.

In 1998 Roger R. and I went up to recover the chassis and associated parts one day but we had car trouble on the way and only recovered a few smaller parts. We were more successful the second time bringing home front armour including the windscreen section and the broken diff assembly (see photo trailer). Tony L. and I went back in 2002 with the rear diff housing and wheels and brought home the chassis, gearbox, some front cockpit armour which showed ARN 123980. This was to prove that this was the last Lynx registered by the Australian Army. The chassis and hull remains at home.

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After Number123980 the ARN books then have another 30 blank numbers so one wonders if more were ordered and did not arrive for some reason. Are they on the bottom of the ocean somewhere, was the order cancelled or were they never ordered

Regards Rick

[charlie fitton]

much appreciated - keep the story coming!


(I don't even care if you make stuff up...)

[Big D]

Great story Rick. 38 years? Wow! Keep it coming.

[Peter Duggan]

Rick,

Please keep the story and pictures coming. Here, I thought I was starting a real challenge, with mine. Your determination to acquire and restore your Lynx is inspirational. I look forward to your updates.

Peter

[lynx42]

Here is the hull number and production date. No. 1726 <-4 - 43 ->with a script FORD between the 43 and 1726. It is followed by the inspectors stamp on the right below the right arrow.

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I discovered the remains of another Lynx at Swan Reach, Victoria, and between these two and another found in SA by Tony L. there were enough parts to assemble one and most of another. Rick Sh. in SA now has those other parts and has the chassis partly assembled although the hull is still in two major parts. This hull is No.1814.

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One for Mike C. What does the tack sign on the rear mudguard of the Swan Reach one represent it looks like No.51.?

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In May 2005, Jill and I visited the Lynx and boat owner, Charlie McCallum, in the Omeo Hospital where he was a resident. Charlie was glad to see me and said that as soon as he got out of hospital we would pull the rear wall off the shed and extract the boat. Unfortunately for all of us, Charlie died a few weeks later and his whole estate had to be sold. I rang John Ross, his executor, some weeks later and asked when the Clearing Sale would be as I was interested in the boat for the engine. He said that he knew about me having the Ford Lynx and asked if I had anything in writing from Charlie. I answered “No” and that I would have to take my chances at the auction. John said he was pleased with that attitude as he had had many phone calls from people saying that Charlie had promised the boat to them but no-one had it in writing. John said that some were quite insistent to the point of being rude.

The Auction was on 5th December 2005 at Benambra and a large crowd attended. One chap asked me what I was there for and when I told him the boat or the engine, he said so was he. He asked what I thought it would go for so I told him an amount of about ½ of what was my limit. The executor, John Ross then gave me permission to locate any Lynx parts and put them all on one pallet. There were many small bits spread across the whole sale area as they did not know what was Lynx and what wasn’t. That pallet load cost me $20.00 for about 200 small bits.

Then it was the boat’s turn. There were 6 or more people bidding on the boat by phone including one from New Zealand. The auctioneer started with his selling spiel about the history of the boat and it’s successes from 1947. He started at $9,000.00 then dropped it to Eight. Seven, Six and Five thousand with no response. He then said $2,000.00 and still no bid so he asked for a start. I said $200.00. “Well that’s a start”, he said and off it went. In $20.00 increases, until it got to $560.00 when the mobile phone system dropped out and the six people handling the phone bids called out for a halt. After about 2 ½ minutes which seemed like 5 hours to me, the auctioneer said that we had to continue and the bloke who had asked me earlier what I thought it would go for said “Go for it Rick, I know how much you will go to and that is too much for me.” The boat was knocked down to me for $580.00. (Thank you Charlie for pulling the phone plugs up there and Ian for not running me up.)

I removed the boat to a local’s yard as the tyres had rotted off the wheels and I returned two days later to pick it up.

This photo of the boat was taken 26 days later at the 2006 Glenmaggie New Years Day regatta where we put the boat on display. Unknown to me was that there were 7 photos of the boat racing at Glenmaggie on the Club room walls. One old chap came up and told me that he remembered setting the propeller to the required pitch for the Ford V8 engine back in 1958.

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Regards Rick.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

What a compelling story, Rick!

Please continue, I can't wait to read the next installment.

Hanno

[lynx42]

Thanks Hanno, Peter, Daz and Charlie. Charlie it is all true nothing made up except parts for the Lynx.

Back to the Lynx. Tony L. came over from SA and helped me by welding the hull back together. The front armour took a fair bit of work but went back on well. The sides were put back together and the doors tried. The rear armour was sorted out and the hull temporarily sat onto the chassis.

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My life took a different direction in 2008 and we sold our property and moved to 3 ½ acres about 10km up the road. It took us 6 months to shift and set up the ‘The Cove Collection Museum Inc.’ The Lynx bits were scattered in many different places during this move and although I tried to keep them together, but with others helping it wasn’t to be. Parts ended up in about 7 different places. I wasn’t that worried as I was still not ready, after then 32 years collecting, to start the restoration.

That all changed in March 2013. For 5 years, I had been President of KVE Inc. (Khaki Vehicle Enthusiasts Inc.) who put on the Corowa Swim-In each year and each year we change the theme. 2014 was to be a combined theme “The year of the Ford and of WWI.”
On the way home from the 2013 event, Jill, my wife, my TA and general hand, said to me “What Ford are you taking next year?” As well as the Lynx, I have a Cab 11 F30S and a Cab 12 F60L as well as a 1942 Ford Marmon-Herrington ‘Dingo” scout car and a VicRail 1942 LP2A Bren Gun Carrier No.2250. All in need of restoration. I also have the restored 1916 Albion A10 3 tonner which is on loan to the Bandiana Army Museum close to Corowa, and as the theme is also WWI as well as the Year of the Ford, I thought I would take the Albion.

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Regards Rick

[lynx42]

Jill had other ideas and she suggested that I should restore the Lynx as I had wanted to get one on the road for 37 years. After a bit of thought, I agreed and on 10th May 2013 the remnants which had been sitting outside for many years were wheeled into the workshop.
Yes that's right the 10th May 2013. Corowa is a short 10 months away, March 2014. Fingers crossed well make it.

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My mate Graeme Clarke assisted with an old front end loader and I started to pull what I had to bits.

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First job was to remove the hull from the chassis, not a big job as it had been just sitting on the chassis for years.

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There's Jill in the background ready to get to work. I cannot thank her enough for all the help and assistance she gives me.

Regards Rick.

[lynx42]

Then with the aid of the RAF Leyland, I moved the chassis to another part of the workshop and with Graeme’s help started to strip the chassis to the last nut and bolt.

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I do not know what was put onto the bolt threads during the original assembly back in 1942 but even the most rusted bolts came apart with out a lot of trouble. There was a greyish substance on the threads and that helped a lot. A bolt could be rusted almost right through and the nut would still undo. Not bad after 70 years out in the open. (Not every one undid but 90% of them did.)

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You will notice that these were undone dry, there was no WD40 or other rust breaker used on them. There was and plenty of heat on some others on the hull though.

Regards Rick.

[charlie fitton]

I thoroughly agree with the removal of bolts on the hulls. Carriers as well. In my limited experience, any bolt that could be gripped could be undone.

Really appreciate this story

f