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

[lynx42]

The headlights were missing, but I had, over the past 37 years, picked up two new old stock LEFT SIDE headlights. The Lynx lights are the same as on a Cab 11 or Cab 12 Blitz.

I was going to have to convert one Left side one to a Right side one and would therefore have to drill a new hole for the headlight wiring into one of the left hand lights and then weld a filler piece into the existing hole.

I had another rusty right hand light which had the correct plates underneath and inside so I drilled out the rivets and found that the headlight drum was already drilled for both left and right side usage.

All I had to do was turn the mounting plate around 180 degrees and re- rivet it back into place. Unfortunately I did not take any photos of that.

Hope that this helps with your restorations.

Rick

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Rick,

Noticed your thread on the Lynx and the following some time back:

"and the unit sign of the 1st ARMOURED REGIMENT (I think) who went to Japan with BECOF in January 1946 as the 1st Australian Armoured Car Squadron – the vehicles were initially 18 Staghound Armoured Cars and 8 Canadian Scout Cars (Lynx). ( I am open to correction here as I am not up on Heraldry)."

The sign is the Formation Sign of 1st Infantry Brigade, ARA, in the 1950s, rather than 1st Armoured Regiment. 1st Armoured were formed in Australia from the returning 1st Armoured Car Squadron personnel who served in Japan with BCOF, so 1st Armoured Regiment didn't actually serve as part of BCOF. The unit (1st Armoured Regiment) were part of the 1st Infantry Brigade throughout the 1950s. The Unit sign in the 1950s was a diagonally divided square, red upper left, yellow lower right, with the number '50' superimposed, later changing to '41' superimposed. Interestingly, the Unit Sign used, for a time, black numerals, ('50') and later, the more commonly seen white ('41'). Your Lynx would look pretty good with the early 1950s unit/formation signage of 1st Armoured. Was there anything left of the Unit Sign on the hull that we might use to identify the actual unit it served with?

Hope that helps.

Regards

Mike

[lynx42]

Hi Mike C.,

These are the TAC/Unit signs etc that were visible on my Lynx. I hope you can identify them for me.

red over yellow right rear.jpg

Red over Yellow on the right rear mudguard.

left reartack sign.jpg

Unit sign on Left rear mudguard.

lynx and cnn 028.jpg

TAC/Unit sign front left armour above the cross bin. The white '0' is the last number of the ARN.

Red over Yellow right side front.jpg

The front cross bin as found and a faint red over yellow with white numbers on the left side.

lynx100613 014z.jpg

Close up of red over yellow with white numbers(?).

Don't know if these will help identify the unit etc. so fingers crossed.

Rick.

[lynx42]

In Post No.69 I showed the work required on the mesh grill. I located a photo of the finished and fitted grill so here it is.

KVE Corowa2014 009a.JPG

I took these photos one evening as I closed up the workshop and I thought I would share them with you.

Lynx continues 150 (2).jpg

A QANTAS flight from New Zealand heading towards Melbourne as the sun was setting.

Lynx continues 153 (2).jpg

No it was not crashing but looked spectacular.

Lynx continues 151 (2).jpg

Rick

[lynx42]

In 2006 at the Bellfield Melbourne Tank Museum sale there was an M3A1 White Scout Car with a quite unusual camouflage style. Painted in a three colour pattern the blue was something I had not ever come across before in Australia. I mechanically restored this one for the owner (a big big job) but he wanted to retain the unusual cammo as it was.
There are many photos of vehicles belonging to the Long Range Desert Group during WWII and some restored or look-a likes with a blue cammo scheme.

13180772873_8bb45497bf_o.jpg

BUT I did not think that I would find that my Lynx also had Blue cammo.

0025.jpg

Blue paint under other colours so it has been there a long time on the rear left engine bay side.

0025d.jpg

Splashed over the hull in many places was the remains of blue cammo. It was to be seen on the rear engine bay sides, the hull, lockers and mudguards. This was in places over painted with green. I say splashed as there were plenty of runs as well as rough brushings. These runs were behind the left locker attached to the left rear guard. The blue went across the locker lid and down the outside.

0025h.jpg

Rear of the hull near the right side lifting ring, with the runs going down behind the right side locker attached to the right rear mudguard.

0025f.jpg

Interesting, I hope that Mike C. can give me an answer.

Rick

[Mike Cecil]

Rick,

Not much to work with there: the Formation sign of 1st Aust Infantry Brigade is the only one I can make a positive ID on. The Unit signs are the red-yellow diagonal square, but I can't make out the Unit Sign Number. But at least you are reasonably sure it was issued to an armoured unit of 1st Aust Inf Bde.

The cam pattern I have seen on a White M3A1 at the time of its disposal, so it came from Army camouflaged that way. I have no records indicating how widespread it may have been, or even if it was official - it seems more likely to have been a unit devised scheme. 1st Armoured Regt certainly used a disruptive camouflage scheme in the late 50s/early 60s, but I have only B&W images which are not much help in colour ID, and they are only of Centurions.

Regards

Mike

[Ganmain Tony]

I have nothing valuable to contibute on your restoration Rick. Only to say I am learning a lot about the Lynx. It really is a fascinating thread and a very interesting machine... so thankyou

I do have a question in regards to your experience with mollases. At this time of year (dead of winter) is it wise for me to start cleaning parts with it? I assume it works better in warmer conditions. Does the tank need a cover over the top?