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

[charlie fitton]

Amazing - a really great post to follow.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by charlie fitton

Amazing - a really great post to follow.

I'll second that - one more reason to come back and read MLU regularly.

Rick: great detail, lots of history and amazing to see how your stamina (with some luck thrown in) see you through completing this project

[lynx42]

Thanks Charlie and Hanno, I will be taking a bit of a break after next Saturday from continuing this story . I had a quadruple back fusion last December and it all went wrong in February. Anyway I go back into hospital next Monday (20th July) for a revision of the December operation. I have been in a bad way since February when the titanium metal work moved and fractured the fusion. This will be my 9th major back operation since I suffered a bad accident at work in 1993. I was not expected to walk again for a while back then and spent 8 1/2 months in a wheel chair. I won't be out in the workshop for a few months after I get home to let things settle down.

I will continue the restoration story when I am able to after the op. Still got to Saturday to keep updating at present.

Glad that you are enjoying my story.

regards Rick

[Big D]

Hi Rick,

Yes, great story. Good luck with the operation.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Rick,

Good luck with your back operation. Get well soon!

Hanno

[lynx42]

I continued on with the steering. New bearings and seals were the order of the day for the box and a really good grease for the universals.

I carefully removed the shims under the worm adjusting cap and luckily put them away carefully as I needed them when I reassembled the box.

Lynx Continues Tyres 008.jpg

The steering sector extension shaft was a right mongrel to get out of the housing. It has a flange on each end and it goes through the right front spring hanger. Fortunately the bush was in good condition and after cleaning up the shaft, it all went back together.

With the steering box and extension shaft ready, I started to re-assemble the chassis.

Lynx Continues Tyres 009.jpg

I had painted the chassis as soon as it came home from the sandblasters and was quite pleased with the colour match. Overall the Lynx is just a bit shiny but will soon dull down as the sun gets onto it.

Lynx Continues Tyres 030.jpg

I started to fit the parts that had been removed from the chassis including the spring packs, fuel tank protection armour and a myriad of brackets and clamps.

Lynx Continues Tyres 034.jpg

The fuel tank hold down straps spent a few weeks in the molasses tank and then I had to re make the hold down bolts as the originals were rusted away. The hinge pins were also rusted solid in the mounts but the molasses cleaned them up.

Lynx Continues Tyres 015.jpg

I found that there were many captive nuts which meant that I had to make up quite a few holders and weld them into place before some things went back on.

The steering wheel was really hard to remove from the top shaft. I say top shaft as there are two steering shafts connected with a small universal joint. The top shaft was seized in the tube and I had to work it for hours to free it up. I then made new top and bottom bushes for the tube. Five new woodruff keys were made for the 4 uni brackets and the steering wheel as I was not able to buy them. To do this I machined down a shaft to the correct size and using a 1mm cutting wheel split them in half. That worked well.

Rick

[Peter Duggan]

Rick,

Very sorry to hear about your back problems. You impress me as an individual who overcomes roadblocks in life. Therefore I will wish you a speedy recovery and look forward to your updates. You have created quite an inspirational story.

Fellow Lynx owner, Peter