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

[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

[lynx42]

I set up a molasses tank to assist in rust removal.

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How does the Molasses Tank work, well you mix up 1 part of molasses to 10 parts of water, leave it for about a week by which time a terrible scum forms on top of the solution. Remove that scum and throw it away and your molasses is ready to use. This solution is not an acid in any way, what removes the rust is a type of algae which feeds on oxygen. Rust consists of hydrated iron(III) oxides Fe2O3•nH2O and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO(OH), Fe(OH)3). Rust is a good source of oxygen for the algae.

A word of warning, DO NOT put die-cast or items containing zinc into the solution or you will find that they haves disappeared. If you put brass or bronze items into the solution, do not leave them for more than 2 to 3 days as the algae will eat out the zinc and turn the brass back to copper.

Into the molasses I put almost every small part. Here two similar items, one piece done and the other before treatment.

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After leaving them to soak for a couple of weeks I removed them and after pressure washing each piece I wire brushed them and this was the result.

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Hundreds of pieces were soaked for varying times. Sometimes they went back into the solution many times after being wire brushed to obtain a rust free item.

Regards Rick.

[lynx42]

During the strip down, the original sandy yellow colour appeared under fittings which had not been removed or exposed to the sun and rain since the day they were made.

Here is the colour under the lifting ring on the left front.

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Inside the left locker was a small bracket bolted to the bin side. After removal the original colour was found, unchanged from the day it was painted.

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There were two basic colours used for the finished coats, either this sand colour for the desert and green for Europe etc.

A decision was made to paint the whole vehicle in this desert sandy colour as it was visible all over the whole vehicle. I took 4 or 5 bits to the local paint shop and had them computer match the colour for me. It is still a bit shiny, but a few days in the sun will soon fix that.

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You can see here in this photo, (thanks Peter Duggan) that there were two finish coats. Desert Sand and Green. There are about 140 Lynxes in this photo with the green ones in the background.

Regards Rick.

[lynx42]

I’ve got a bit ahead of myself here. The chassis tear down commenced and each part was photographed and documented. Thank heavens for digital cameras. I commenced stripping the chassis by first removing the fuel tank armoured protection tubs which were bolted to the chassis. With these out of the way I was able then to get to the smaller fittings.

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The hydraulics are a bit different to most vehicles. The accelerator is hydraulically operated with a master cylinder under the accelerator pedal and a slave at the carburettor. I have had a new slave cylinder for many years having purchased it at a Corowa Swim-In auction. The brakes, clutch and accelerator all work off the one reservoir tank mounted in the engine bay.

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With this set up there are quite a few hydraulic lines going all through the chassis every whichway. All of the pipes and master and slave cylinders were photographed, measured and labelled as they were removed and stored carefully away. Later all of the chassis hydraulics were carefully disassembled. Photos were taken as each piece was stripped down.