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

[Ganmain Tony]

Rick and Mike,

Thanks very much fella's, invaluable help as always. Might also help reduce my bill at the sandblasters.

Will give it a go and let you know how it goes..

[lynx42]

I decided that the transfer case was next to tackle so with Jill’s help and my trusty engine crane we placed it on one of the four poster hoists runways.

I like to keep the work area as clean as possible so a good layer of newspaper underneath the job will catch most of the crap and soak up the inevitable oil spills. First job was to scrape off the mud and debris build up before attempting to unbolt anything as with any restoration, you shouldn’t cut corners and just clean up a part and put it back on

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Every part of the Lynx is joined with earth straps and you can see here that even the two parts of the case are earthed to each other and then to the chassis.

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The Lynx uses a very shot strange type of coupling between the gearbox and the transfer case. This consists of a pair of Rzeppa disc type universal joints connected by a short shaft. This coupling is just like you find in most WWII military front wheel drive diff assemblies. Fortunately for me, the coupling was still attached to the gearbox and was in good condition. The balls were not rusted and after a really good clean and grease the Rzeppa joints were re-assembled ready to refit and as it says in the workshop manual, wrapped in a clean cloth until ready to use. These are the six bolts onto which the Rzeppa joint bolts.

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I started the dis-assembly with the declutch unit and after removing the coupling, I carefully removed, measured and stored the shims behind the coupling.

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The transfer case was pretty straight forward to pull down. It is a single speed just like in aC15A or F15A, supplying drive to the front axle as and when required. The selector lever sticks up through the floor on the left of the drivers seat. Pushing it down to the floor engages the drive and pulling it up disengages the drive to the front axle.

[lynx42]

Next came the rear drive coupling, it was here that I found that the transfer case had been rebuilt some time during its military service. How did I come to that conclusion? It was fitted with a clearly marked GMH oil seal no. 2057128. That is the same number as shown in the manual.

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I next removed the speedo drive and the breather caps before I started on the input drive coupling. A film canister served as a protection cap over the speedo drive for many years. I was able to locate a breather filter for the breather years ago so that was lucky too.

[lynx42]

After a good clean, I removed the input drive coupling with its 6 coupling bolts by undoing the centre lock bolt and sliding it off the shaft. I could then clean behind and around the area.

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I measured the shims and replaced them exactly where they came from and then adjusted them to .003” to .005” on each one except the declutch unit which is set at ZERO. Something to keep in mind is that the thickness of the shims must be equal on both sides of the idler shaft.

A straight edge was used to make sure the gears were below the casing so that they would not rub on the cover. The detente spring should be checked and the ball examined to make sure that it will locate correctly.

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New transfer case insulators were required and these were cut out of neoprene sheet.

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Not much chance of making an error with this one marked 'OUTSIDE"

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Once again I was able to purchase all the bearings and seals over the counter and I is lucky that I have a trade account otherwise it would have cost a H#!l of a lot more.

[lynx42]

The gearbox was one thing that I did not have to worry about too much. About 12 years ago I did a swap deal with Alan N. in SA. His part of the deal was to completely rebuild the gearbox for me. That rebuild involved new bearings, seals etc. His gain was a quantity of Avro Anson gauges and other parts for the one he had ideas of assembling.

The gearbox is only found on the Ford Lynx Scout Car. It has standard Ford Blitz gears but the housing is completely different in that the gate is on the side not the top as in a Ford Blitz. This is linked with rods to the fulcrum mid way along the chassis to change a pull to a push and vis-versa.

Regards Rick.

[lynx42]

Next came the gear change tower. As the Lynx has the engine in the rear and facing backwards, the gear linkage has a pivot (known as the Bracket and Lever assembly) to change a push to a pull and vice-versa. (SEE Post #16 for those photos)

This pivot was re-bushed and so were the linkages where necessary.

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This is the tower as taken out of the chassis.

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There are packing gland seals at both ends of the rods and boy where they a challenge to replace. The gland nuts were seized solid and I did not want to apply heat as I needed to see the type and size of the gland packing. The gland nuts were close together too close to get a grip with anything I had in the workshop so made up a tool like the one you use to undo an oil filter only much smaller. After three or four tries with different straps I was able finally to undo and later tighten the packing glands.

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This is the inside of the tower showing the slides which press onto the base plate.

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There is a type of turn buckle set into the rods to allow gear change alignment or adjustment to be made if necessary. These two photos are taken of a Lynx under restoration in SA. You can see the adjustment nuts near to the cross member.

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In the tower where the lever goes in there is a pin to locate the lever and to stop it spinning around. This pin and the collar on the lever were worn and a bit of welding and the machining up of a new pin soon fixed that. New gaskets and a good clean saw the tower ready to be refitted.

Rick.

[lynx42]

One part I have not yet located is the bracket that the air cleaner sits on which is bolted to the engine.

These photos are not too clear but show the part I need.

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It bolts to the left cylinder head and the air cleaner.

I know that it is a Ford part and was also found on the sedans and station wagons.

So who has one to spare?

Thanks Rick