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

[lynx42]

I asked where the engine was as there was no sign of it but the unusual Lynx gear-box was there. Charlie said “I know where that is, it is in a speed boat.” And he took me to one of his sheds which had always been locked each time I had been there before. On opening the door there was no sign of any boat just a complete mess with junk stacked
5 feet high and on a dirt floor under which rabbits had set up home. Much stuff was covered in dirt from their burrow diggings. In fact I dug through some of this in later years and found many parts which had been placed under a bench and eventually covered with the burrow’s spoil.

Further searching in this dimly lit shed as I could only partially open the PA door, displayed a mound of old army blankets, bits of tarps and much other junk and under this mound I could just see the shape of an ancient speedboat. There was too much junk to uncover the boat but I was able to open the art deco engine hatch and view the engine. It was Engine No 3G85015F which was the correct engine for Hull No. 1726. The engine had been found. Was it for sale? The answer was no, not at the moment. I was not able to see the whole boat as it had so much rubbish covering it, BUT it looked interesting and on later investigation showed that it was a very early ‘tail dragger’ hydroplane. It has now been identified as the earliest 3 pointer in Australia.

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The years went by and the boat and motor remained in the shed covered up. Many people knew about it and some said that it had been promised to them but no one had ever been able to recover it. So more about the boat later.

In 1998 Roger R. and I went up to recover the chassis and associated parts one day but we had car trouble on the way and only recovered a few smaller parts. We were more successful the second time bringing home front armour including the windscreen section and the broken diff assembly (see photo trailer). Tony L. and I went back in 2002 with the rear diff housing and wheels and brought home the chassis, gearbox, some front cockpit armour which showed ARN 123980. This was to prove that this was the last Lynx registered by the Australian Army. The chassis and hull remains at home.

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After Number123980 the ARN books then have another 30 blank numbers so one wonders if more were ordered and did not arrive for some reason. Are they on the bottom of the ocean somewhere, was the order cancelled or were they never ordered

Regards Rick

[charlie fitton]

much appreciated - keep the story coming!


(I don't even care if you make stuff up...)

[Big D]

Great story Rick. 38 years? Wow! Keep it coming.

[Peter Duggan]

Rick,

Please keep the story and pictures coming. Here, I thought I was starting a real challenge, with mine. Your determination to acquire and restore your Lynx is inspirational. I look forward to your updates.

Peter

[lynx42]

Here is the hull number and production date. No. 1726 <-4 - 43 ->with a script FORD between the 43 and 1726. It is followed by the inspectors stamp on the right below the right arrow.

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I discovered the remains of another Lynx at Swan Reach, Victoria, and between these two and another found in SA by Tony L. there were enough parts to assemble one and most of another. Rick Sh. in SA now has those other parts and has the chassis partly assembled although the hull is still in two major parts. This hull is No.1814.

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One for Mike C. What does the tack sign on the rear mudguard of the Swan Reach one represent it looks like No.51.?

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In May 2005, Jill and I visited the Lynx and boat owner, Charlie McCallum, in the Omeo Hospital where he was a resident. Charlie was glad to see me and said that as soon as he got out of hospital we would pull the rear wall off the shed and extract the boat. Unfortunately for all of us, Charlie died a few weeks later and his whole estate had to be sold. I rang John Ross, his executor, some weeks later and asked when the Clearing Sale would be as I was interested in the boat for the engine. He said that he knew about me having the Ford Lynx and asked if I had anything in writing from Charlie. I answered “No” and that I would have to take my chances at the auction. John said he was pleased with that attitude as he had had many phone calls from people saying that Charlie had promised the boat to them but no-one had it in writing. John said that some were quite insistent to the point of being rude.

The Auction was on 5th December 2005 at Benambra and a large crowd attended. One chap asked me what I was there for and when I told him the boat or the engine, he said so was he. He asked what I thought it would go for so I told him an amount of about ½ of what was my limit. The executor, John Ross then gave me permission to locate any Lynx parts and put them all on one pallet. There were many small bits spread across the whole sale area as they did not know what was Lynx and what wasn’t. That pallet load cost me $20.00 for about 200 small bits.

Then it was the boat’s turn. There were 6 or more people bidding on the boat by phone including one from New Zealand. The auctioneer started with his selling spiel about the history of the boat and it’s successes from 1947. He started at $9,000.00 then dropped it to Eight. Seven, Six and Five thousand with no response. He then said $2,000.00 and still no bid so he asked for a start. I said $200.00. “Well that’s a start”, he said and off it went. In $20.00 increases, until it got to $560.00 when the mobile phone system dropped out and the six people handling the phone bids called out for a halt. After about 2 ½ minutes which seemed like 5 hours to me, the auctioneer said that we had to continue and the bloke who had asked me earlier what I thought it would go for said “Go for it Rick, I know how much you will go to and that is too much for me.” The boat was knocked down to me for $580.00. (Thank you Charlie for pulling the phone plugs up there and Ian for not running me up.)

I removed the boat to a local’s yard as the tyres had rotted off the wheels and I returned two days later to pick it up.

This photo of the boat was taken 26 days later at the 2006 Glenmaggie New Years Day regatta where we put the boat on display. Unknown to me was that there were 7 photos of the boat racing at Glenmaggie on the Club room walls. One old chap came up and told me that he remembered setting the propeller to the required pitch for the Ford V8 engine back in 1958.

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Regards Rick.

[lynx42]

John Ross, Charlies executor, told me after the auction, to go through the shed again as there were probably some other parts still in the shed. When I returned to pick up the boat with new wheels and tyres and a tin of grease I was also set to go through the shed with a fine toothed comb. It was a stinking hot day and after fitting a replacement set of wheels and tyres and greasing the wheel bearings I started sifting through the shed. The first thing I found was another Lynx fuel tank, in mint condition. Unfortunately it turned out to be a second left hand tank. Why there were two left hand tanks I have no idea but this tank was modified to a right tank during the restoration. Then the air cleaner was unearthed from under the bench totally buried in the rabbit burrow spoil. Many other parts were found and finally I thought I had missed nothing. I went and had a wash as I was filthy with dirt and got into my car to head for home. Something stopped me, and I decided to go and have another look around the shed. I entered through the PA door and went anticlockwise around and through the shed without finding one more single piece. As I closed the PA door I noticed a David Brown tractor badge screwed to the door jam. I have a mate with a David Brown tractor so I went and got a screwdriver to take the DB nameplate off for him. Underneath the DB badge were two other plates. One was the Ford Lynx ID plate with the Hull, Serial and Engine numbers and the other was the gear change plate, both in perfect condition. (Thank you again Charlie for pointing me towards them.)

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On the day of the estate auction, Jill and I literally stumbled across a missing piece of armour. As we were walking from the boat’s shed towards the auction area, I spotted a 2” long ½” wide piece of steel sticking out of the ground. This turned out to be the missing bit of plate still with the hatch, hinges and mechanisms. I was missing the gunner’s hatch on the left side and had had one made in Melbourne a few months before. This new piece was cut from ½” plate using high pressure water jet with garnet in the water. I was able to get a few made and the water jet cut out the hatch as well. I then sold the extras to other restorers. You can see the condition it was in. Had we walked a few feet either way, we would have missed it.

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Also on the day of the auction, the auctioneer in his preamble, stated that there had been a fully rebuilt Ford V8 engine for the boat, stolen from the shed. Charlie McCallum had told people that it was there and it was not to be found. That did not concern me as I had the engine I wanted and an historic boat as well. More about this engine later.

Regards Rick.

[aj.lec]

Originally Posted by lynx42

Here is the hull number and production date. No. 1726 <-4 - 43 ->with a script FORD between the 43 and 1726. It is followed by the inspectors stamp on the right below the right arrow.


Then it was the boat’s turn. There were 6 or more people bidding on the boat by phone including one from New Zealand. The auctioneer started with his selling spiel about the history of the boat and it’s successes from 1947. He started at $9,000.00 then dropped it to Eight. Seven, Six and Five thousand with no response. He then said $2,000.00 and still no bid so he asked for a start. I said $200.00. “Well that’s a start”, he said and off it went. In $20.00 increases, until it got to $560.00 when the mobile phone system dropped out and the six people handling the phone bids called out for a halt. After about 2 ½ minutes which seemed like 5 hours to me, the auctioneer said that we had to continue and the bloke who had asked me earlier what I thought it would go for said “Go for it Rick, I know how much you will go to and that is too much for me.” The boat was knocked down to me for $580.00. (Thank you Charlie for pulling the phone plugs up there and Ian for not running me up.)

I removed the boat to a local’s yard as the tyres had rotted off the wheels and I returned two days later to pick it up.

This photo of the boat was taken 26 days later at the 2006 Glenmaggie New Years Day regatta where we put the boat on display. Unknown to me was that there were 7 photos of the boat racing at Glenmaggie on the Club room walls. One old chap came up and told me that he remembered setting the propeller to the required pitch for the Ford V8 engine back in 1958.



Regards Rick.

That boat is a little ripper
Would be both fun and pretty hairy to drive I think
Would pitch quickly being that short

[lynx42]

The gear change tower was in fairly good condition. I had to replace the packing where the rods exit the mount. The linkages were all in good condition but the packing gone.

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I was fortunate that I did not have to make the holes in the linkages round again, they were all ok. All I had to do was just fit new bolts throughout the linkages. the red knob is just temporary. I had to replace the locating pin on the lever as it was worn a bit and the lever moved to much in a circular way.

Rick.

[lynx42]

Originally Posted by aj.lec

That boat is a little ripper
Would be both fun and pretty hairy to drive I think
Would pitch quickly being that short

Hi Andrew, Thought I would digress a bit for you.

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This Tail-dragger Hydroplane is recognized as the oldest in Australia. It was built in Moe Vic. in 1947 by a chap named Howlett for Charlie Moffit. It is built to a plan patented in the USA in 1937 and was originally powered by a 21 stud Ford 60hp engine.

Charlie Moffit raced it as "Kandoo II' with much success throughout Australia but sold it to Charlie McCallum in 1957. After blowing the Lynx diff, Charlie McC. removed the engine from the Lynx with the broken diff and fitted it into the boat. Charlie built a trailer for the boat and renamed the boat "GUNNER". Lake Omeo at Benambra Vic. is a very shallow lake and Charlie was only able to race the boat for two years at Benambra.(1958/1959). In 1960 there was not enough water in Lake Omeo to hold a race meeting so the boat was parked up in the shed and the rest is history.

In building the trailer he cut off the front Shock absorber mounts and welded them to the frame as the rear spring shackles.

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If you look carefully you will see that the carburetor is facing the opposite way to normal for a Ford V8. It is facing the gearbox end not the fan end.This was because they discovered with the Lynx that the fuel bowl on the carby had to face the way the vehicle was going and as the engine is turned around they had to reverse the carby. This suited the boat as the drive for the prop is off the front of the crank shaft where the fan bolts on.

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The boat originally had straight out exhausts from each of the three exhaust ports on each side. Charlie McC. just used the original Lynx manifolds and fittings and ran only one exhaust pipe. That was good for me as I then had something to copy. The other two holes on each side were covered up with a thin plywood cover. You can see the darkened area where the covering plywood was fitted.

regards Rick.