Lynx II, hull # 4225

[Peter Duggan]

This trip consists of one step after another. Quite satisfying to look back and recognize that I'm actually making progress. Tom Wiltse, a machinist in Wellington was able to rivet together my terminal strips together. The folks with the Lynx engine have been swamped by their core business, but have been able to start the teardown. It's putting up a fight, two of the pistons came out in two pieces. No visible cracks but the magnaflux will tell the tale. Wish me luck.

[lynx42]

Don't forget to get the bare block put in an acid bath to clean out all the galleries. There are both welsh plugs and gallery plugs to be removed from the oil and water galleries before that is done.

Rick.

[charlie fitton]

..and they are notorious for cracking along the bolt holes for the sump pan...from frost...so maybe not a problem there..

[Peter Duggan]

Guys,

I recently had a great visit from a fellow by the name of J.P. Brescacin, who hooked up with me on MLU. He is heavily involved with the Mosquito restoration that is taking place in Windsor. Now that is a formidable project.

Bottom line is that he offered me a collection of Lynx parts that he had acquired. Received them today. Feels as if Christmas came early this year.

I would like to publically thank him and all the other great folks who have helped along with this project. Membership in MLU has been very rewarding.

Peter

[charlie fitton]

Is that a carrier bit at the top left?

You have to enjoy these moments - I had someone drop off a set of carrier mufflers early on in my fix-up

[Peter Duggan]

Charlie,

Good eyes. There was also a respectable carrier speedometer, which I put aside for a friend, out west, who is restoring a carrier. If there is anyone who can use the carrier parts they are most welcome. I am quite pleased with Lynx parts.

Peter

[charlie fitton]

I call shotgun on that plate, at least....thanks

Good excuse to see your project..

[Peter Duggan]

Charlie,

The plate is yours. Should you ever come across any Lynx parts I would appreciate a "head up".

Peter

[charlie fitton]

Many thanks, and I would gladly steer any Lynx bits to you.

Can we arrange a visit to your shop?

[Peter Duggan]

Charlie,

Sent you a PM.

Peter

[Peter Duggan]

Folks,

Strange how life works at times. I had the original ignition coil shielding box with the Lynx, but no cover. Got a second box from Stew Robertson, but again, no cover. Lo and behold, the collection of Lynx parts that J.P. Brescacin generously offered me had an elusive cover. Great feeling when these small bits come together. Got to paint some more small pieces, and moved some more item from the "to be rebuilt" shelving to the "ready to install" shelving.

Life goes on, Peter

[chris vickery]

Kinda nice, isn't it? When you first get a project and it seems overwhelming.
My father's advice? Do not look at it as a whole; consider it a bunch a parts that make up sub assemblies. A bunch of sub assemblies make up the whole thing. Pick something, tear it apart, fix it. Put it on the shelf.
One day there are no more assemblies to fix/restore or paint.
Now it is time to take them and start bolting together.
Whenever I get into a project I try to do a little each day. Even if it is indirect work, such as reading up on the manual, picking up parts etc.
One day it will all come together.
Keep up the great work!

[Big D]

Hi Peter,

It looks like another great restoration in progress. Very interesting.

Going back a few pages on your restoration thread, I am curious about the method used to weld the hull back together. I noted Chris's early comments about the type of rod to use and the question of sandblasting.

What did your welder do and use in the end? It looks like he did a fine job whatever he did.

Did the hull have to be shimmed/packed at all to allow for the cut that was made in the demilitarising?

Was a backing plate required when he was welding?

Thanks.

[Peter Duggan]

Darryl,

I will attempt to describe the work that Gerald did, any errors are all mine. Neither the frame or hull were sandblasted prior to the welding. The areas were well cleaned with the aid of angle grinders and wire wheels.

Gerald decided that the frame should be done first to aid in determining the hull fit. He also decided to use "Bohler E 7018-1 1/8"rod since he didn't want to put too much heat into the hull or frame and introduce cracking.

Once the frame was square and true and welded up, we placed the frame underneath the hull and loosely bolted them together using the mounting points.

Using "come alongs" and spreader bars the two halves were aligned and tacked together. Then using wedges, shims, some welded oversize nuts, with smaller bolts the fine tuning was done until everything squared up.

We were very fortunate that when the hull was cut in half that they opened up the escape hatches first and we were able to use the doors as a further reference.

Backing plates were used and the sides of the old cuts were bevelled and then welded up in successive layers.

I am extremely pleased at his workmanship and how well it looks. The hull floor still requires work but that is for another day.

I just wish that I had taken more pictures of his work when it was taking place.

Peter

[lynx42]

Peter, I am amazed at how many changes there were between the Lynx III, III* (Lynx I) and your Lynx II.

The photo of the inside of the escape hatch door is just one example. Here is a similar photo of my door.



It does not have the footman loops and has a different latch arrangement as well. Even the latch handle is different.

The wiring system and location is another.

It is good to see proof that the escape hatch doors were painted the same colours as the outside of the vehicle. If it was painted white like the interior, it would stand out like dogs b@#ls when open and give the vehicle location away. What is stenciled on the door?

Regards Rick.

[Big D]

Hi Peter

Thanks for that. That explains things nicely and very interesting how it all came together.

[Peter Duggan]

Rick,

I have deliberately avoided sandblasting the hull until I can learn and document as much as possible about the markings and colours.

Despite the heavy rust in spots, there are significant amounts of stencils and successive levels of paint. The drivers door has "----ERS ----SHIELD", which I have interpreted to read "DRIVERS WINDSHIELD". I think the footman loops held it in place with webbing straps. Above the drivers escape hatch are stencils for POUCHES and EARPHONES.

On the observers/gunners side there are stencils for POUCHES, EARPHONES, SPARE BARREL, MAP CASE and HAVERSACK.

My latches were partially dismantled on the picture that you refer to. I think our latches are quite similar.

I agree with your deduction of the interior colour for the escape hatches. When it comes to paint, it will be the same as the exterior, for the same logic that you used.

Looking forward to hearing of your progress and eagerly await more of your updates, Peter

[Mike Cecil]

The interior surfaces that were exposed to the outside at various times were commonly painted camouflage, rather than white. Rick will discover (if he hasn't already) that his Aussie MH-Dingo has a side door with the inside face painted cammo, as well as the MG port in the front armour, and the inside of the front vision ports, as well as the entire floor forward of the step, as that area could be seen through the large roof hatch when open.

The rear hatch, however, was white on the inside (as far as I can remember), as it only opened to a horizontal position.

Nice job, Peter, and great to closely document the layers so well prior to stripping.

Mike

[David Dunlop]

Mike. I was just wondering about that. I recall seeing the 2 Lynx Bill Gregg obtained from Europe back in the 1980's and their interiors were the same colour as the outside of the vehicle. One could clealy see stowage stencils in white on the various interior walls, as well as on the front fenders (Camouflage Net) was one that comes to mind. The Lynx has a very open crew compartment, not unlike a carrier and I suspect they came from the factory with non white interiors during the war. In post war service, probably anything became possible, white and silver being very likely candidates. Anyone have any good wartime interior photos for any of the Lynx line?

David

[Peter Duggan]

Folks,

After some more sanding in different locations, it appears as if the crew compartment was first painted in the off white/cream colour, then the olive drab with white stenciling. There was an additional layer of the light silver colour which I associate with British AFVs, and which I am assuming was applied some time post war. The interior of the escape hatches were originally painted desert sand then the olive drab, with no signs of the off white/cream colour.
My question is - does anyone have any definitive information as to which colour was in use during the war time period?

I would welcome any and all comments, Peter

[Mrs Vampire]

Mike .

Have you considered minimum intervention so far as blasting is concerned. Surface conditioning and anti rust treatment leaving as much of the original paint on the artifact as possible then over spraying ???

That leaves the original paint intact and available for future archaeologists. WW!! paint and the paint history of vehicles is fast disappearing.

If you have large enough areas of good paint you might try getting a spectrograph of it. If the white is the same as the US army Tank white I have a sample of that.

Gina

[Peter Duggan]

Guys,

The results of the magnaflux have provided enough information to determine that the engine can be rebuilt. That's the good news. However the pitting on the cylinder walls was extensive enough that the cylinders will have to be sleeved. There was one small crack found, but the folks at the engine shop claim that it can be "pinned". They have a fair bit of experience with the 239 and appear to be quite confident.

It will be great if the Lynx can be restored with the original major components. I do have another 239 lurking around in the recesses of the garage, but I believe it to be post WW 11, and if anything it's in worse shape.

Peter

[Lynn Eades]

Peter, how bad is the pitting? Will it bore to 3+5/16"? They will (apparently)go out past that and pistons (and gaskets to suit) are readily available. They can go out safely as far as 3+7/16" in a really good block. (not suggesting you risk that) 3+5/16 is considered safe enough to not have to do anything special as far as a porous bore goes, if your block is not badly rusted in the water jacket.
It will give you more cubes.
The extra cost of sleeving can be diverted to the pistons.
Be aware that there is always a degree of risk in going for the o/s bore.

[Andrew Rowe]

Lynn , I think the blocks that suit the 3 5/16 are the C59 blocks, (later model )that the hot rodder's love to bore out because these blocks are apparently thicker in the wall. I do not think the 99A's will go that far.

[Lynn Eades]

I may well be wrong, but my understanding is that any of the blocks that were made with 3+3/16" bore, will work. The 3+1/16" blocks can only go out to 3+3/16"
If I have this wrong please someone let me know.

If you think about it
Std bore =3.1875
+.060" over bore (normal)= 3.2475 (2 1/2 thou under 3 1/4")
Add to that another ).0625" (1/16th")(or another 0.031 thou from each side) and you are there.

[Peter Duggan]

Guys,

Slow but steady progress on the smaller bits and pieces while I wait for experts and the larger components. Very satisfying to look at the steadily growing pile of parts that are ready to be installed.

I have dismantled the "scissors lift" mechanism for the drivers seat. It looks as if it was submerged in sea water for most of it's life. I am looking to source - C19SR 110327 - screw - special shoulder - seat riser assembly. The thread size is 5/16 -18. I am hoping that it was used for by Ford for more than just the Lynx seat. If anyone knows where I can obtain them, please let me know. I am looking for ten.

Thanks, Peter

[Peter Duggan]

Folks,

Went to Odessa on Saturday looking for inspiration from old green iron and the people responsible for them. The folks from F.M.V.A. did a great job and there were even more vehicles than last year. I hope this trend continues. It was a very worthwhile event. Only disappointment was the absence of the Hammond barn gang.

Please excuse my bias for CMPs and old B model Macks.

Peter

[Lynn Eades]

Peter, when the part number prefix is the same as your model of machine,(CS19R) Then it means Ford never had that part in their system until they built that particular machine. It may have then been used in later Fords, but I suspect it is special to just a few war time machines.
If you have some made, some originals may then materialize. That seems to be how it works.
Another angle is to check out the various parts lists from the different suspension seat makers like Bostrom etc. Some have scissors that may have the type of bolts you are looking for.

[lynx42]

Originally Posted by Peter Duggan

Guys,

Slow but steady progress on the smaller bits and pieces while I wait for experts and the larger components. Very satisfying to look at the steadily growing pile of parts that are ready to be installed.

I have dismantled the "scissors lift" mechanism for the drivers seat. It looks as if it was submerged in sea water for most of it's life. I am looking to source - C19SR 110327 - screw - special shoulder - seat riser assembly. The thread size is 5/16 -18. I am hoping that it was used for by Ford for more than just the Lynx seat. If anyone knows where I can obtain them, please let me know. I am looking for ten.

Thanks, Peter

Attachment 75588 Attachment 75589 Attachment 75590

Hi Pete,

I had a couple of my seat riser bolts which were beyond saving, two were snapped off at the raised section and three others had the tread ruined. What I did was to machine off the bolt section in the lathe, drill through the centre of the remaining part with the shaped head, machine up another bolt, allowing for the split pin and then silver soldering the new stub end into the shaped bolt head. I was fortunate enough to have all 10 of the bolts to reclaim. Maybe that is what you can do if you have all 10 (110327) bolts.

I'll show you my overflow tank manufacture as soon as I get back to continuing the restoration story of hull no.1726. (Next week I hope).

I hope that this idea helps you.

Regards Rick.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Peter Duggan

I have dismantled the "scissors lift" mechanism for the drivers seat. It looks as if it was submerged in sea water for most of it's life. I am looking to source - C19SR 110327 - screw - special shoulder - seat riser assembly. The thread size is 5/16 -18. I am hoping that it was used for by Ford for more than just the Lynx seat. If anyone knows where I can obtain them, please let me know. I am looking for ten.

Peter,
That seat is almost a direct copy of the one in the Daimler Dingo, even down to those screws, although I suspect the thread is different (Daimler was BSF). No consolation though as I doubt you would find any nos Dingo screws.