For want of a nail, the war was lost (Lynx story).

[rob love]

For want of a nail, the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe, the horse was lost etc....

So anyway, poetry aside, a month and a bit ago I started working on a Lynx scout car at the Shilo museum. It had a severe shifting problem, getting caught in gear or unable to shift into a gear. The main volunteer mechanic felt it was in the front remote shifter mechanism, and after removing it from the vehicle, sure enough, there was some wear on the bottom plate that made it look like the shifters were interfering with each other. I built up the bottom plate, cleaned out the rust and crap, new O-rings, and reassembled it, making sure everything was free pin fit with the linkages running to the transmission. Steering was also jamming up, so the nose to the vehicle was removed, and the coupling to the pitman arm was found to be loose and coming apart. That was fixed. After that, the vehicle got a complete brake job (new double flared steel lines to replace the copper lines someone had installed with single flares), all new cyls including master, new flex lines, and wheel seals of course. Then on to the electrical. Lots of bare wires and splices, so all the wiring was gutted, and new braided wire installed, all numbered by the book. All new toggle switches, all lights repaired and made functional. Then on to the fuel system. All new lines, 3 way valve fixed up, large cannister filter on the frame with an electric pump installed to function as a primer (like the original autopulse). Carb had already been done but a choke setup was arranged, and the fuel pump was already new. Gas tanks have been sent downtown for cleaning and repair. Oh yeah, and I made a new front fender to replace a badly bent up one.

So after all that, yesterday I go to finally drive it out of the shop. I had some fuel problems, which were the result of running on a POW can of gas as the fuel tanks were still downtown. But then the unthinkable: the lynx got stuck in 3rd gear again....hopelessly stuck. I managed to get it back into the shop, and today managed to get it onto the hoist. After all this work I was very discouraged, and sure I was pulling the engine to fix up the transmission. I'd had to disconnect the linkage to the 3rd and 4th gear shift and pry the shifter back into neutral against great resistance.

So anyway, I get it onto the hoist, and had the drain pan all ready to pull the oil, when I decided to look at things again. That's when I noticed a bit of shine on one of the greasy clevis pins at the transmission rails. No cotter pin. And another pin only had a small piece of thin copper wire through it. This was allowing the clevis pin to vibrate down and jam up with the reverse shifter shaft.

So with 2 X 3¢ cotter pins installed, I held my breath, started up the lynx, and headed outside for a nice mile long road test. It performed flawlessly. What a hoot to drive.

Sometimes it's the little things that really count, and make all the difference.