Restoration of Hull 731- Carrier, MG (Aust) Mortar Carrying

[Darrin Wright]

I disassembled all the conduit and with some storage boxes and other items dropped it all off at the sandblasters yesterday for blasting. With the heat, they are only blasting in the mornings.
I have installed the new speedo cable that I got from Euan (also on MLU) some time ago and connected it to the gearbox drive.

Today
Bought more etch primer for the items and collected the bits & bobs from the sandblasters. It is 41 deg C today, excellent drying weather, so I have undercoated the items and will let them dry for the afternoon.
With the overnight temp being 24 deg C and 0% humidity I took the opportunity to paint all the items in undercoat, green. They can dry overnight and get another coat in the morning.
At this rate I may be able to assemble the conduit tomorrow morning and install stowage boxes.
Tomorrow have to collect an accelerator linkage and copy the bends so my rod can be installed.

[Darrin Wright]

Well the weather has not been good for working out in the workshop, so have only spent a few hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the late afternoon/evening. Did not feel like working in 42 to 47 deg C heat.

Picked up an accelerator linkage rod from a local person and utilised it to bend my new rod. Having the correct angles & lengths, it has now been installed.

All items sandblasted have several coats of paint, most importantly the electrical conduit. Discovered the junction block (RHS hull near engine) to be cracked, so have bronzed it up. I have also repaired the flexible conduit from the engine rail to the engine, this carries the generator wiring and oil/temp sender wires. It is all painted green ready for assembly and installing the wiring.

Over Christmas I had a new stepped bolt machined to replace the item that destroyed itself when it had too much heat applied to it, when trying to remove it from the hull. This is the bolt that holds the track adjuster arm in place, on the hull. This has all been painted and it is now installed on the hull with new castellated nuts and new springs from Colin Jones (on MLU).

One evening I made a stencil that replicated the original hull number that was painted to the side. Fixed it in placed with little magnets and gave it a heavy coat of white. This is not the final marking and painted location. I wish to copy the original location and sequence of markings that I found on the vehicle. So when the hull (or that part of the hull) is painted again, those markings will be painted over and the new markings with the Mortar Section markings will be applied.

[Darrin Wright]

Painted the 2 smaller boxes (Box Iron Rations & Box Cooking Utensils) and installed them into the hull in the later model LP2A configuration. Bit of a tight fit to get them in with holes drilled to suit the mounting plates.

The local tool shop had a sale, so went down and bought a large G clamp to assist in pushing the wheel pins out. Utilising Colin Jones' method and having picked up a bracket and 2 hook bolts that my Dad had made up 30 years ago to do the same job, I commenced removing the wheel pin from the LHR suspension unit. It eventually came out and I removed the wheel, due to the heat, that's as far as I got with that.

Found my complete engine oil cooler lines and cleaned them up externally with the wire wheel and washed them out with thinners (that's all I had) several times. They have since been undercoated, test fitted in to the hull & bent back into the correct position, and are now painted green ready for installation next weekend. Once the oil cooler and pipes are in, there's no reason not to get the radiator installed.

Used the weather to paint quite a few parts and let them dry during the day or overnight. These parts are either on the vehicle or in a box of like items ready for assembly.

[Darrin Wright]

Little bit late with this update from the weekend, and like the new thumbnail size for the uploaded pics.

On the weekend I completed a number of little jobs and finished some tasks off, like the RHR suspension 2 engine rail bolts. My hands were too big and I didn't want to pull the starter motor off again, so my eldest son got down in the hull and, with assistance, installed the bolts & nuts and we did them up.

Another task, another son, we installed the painted oil cooler lines into the floor of the hull. Use some thread paste to seal the tapered fittings so that they do not leak later. Fitted the oil cooler lines through the air scoop slot and connected the lines to the cooler fittings. Next we installed the relief valve and positioned it onto its mounting bracket. As much as possible, I primed the cooler lines with oil.
Fitted the 2 saddle clamps that hold the oil lines to the engine rails, this presented a problem as the original holes may have been threaded and with
time and rust they are now holes. This required a longer bolt and a nylock nut, but to install the nut required small hands & arms to reach in under/around the engine and around the tube axle.
Interesting fact from the manual, to check the oil level the engine must be running when the oil level is checked. This is so that the oil cooler system is full and does not give a false reading and the operator has the incorrect oil level.

Utilised a thread tap to clean out the holes for the hull plates and installed the coolant drain hull plate.

[Darrin Wright]

Little bit late with this update from the weekend, and like the new thumbnail size for the uploaded pics.

On the weekend I completed a number of little jobs and finished some tasks off, like the RHR suspension 2 engine rail bolts. My hands were too big and I didn't want to pull the starter motor off again, so my eldest son got down in the hull and, with assistance, installed the bolts & nuts and we did them up.

Another task, another son, we installed the painted oil cooler lines into the floor of the hull. Use some thread paste to seal the tapered fittings so that they do not leak later. Fitted the oil cooler lines through the air scoop slot and connected the lines to the cooler fittings. Next we installed the relief valve and positioned it onto its mounting bracket. As much as possible, I primed the cooler lines with oil.
Fitted the 2 saddle clamps that hold the oil lines to the engine rails, this presented a problem as the original holes may have been threaded and with
time and rust they are now holes. This required a longer bolt and a nylock nut, but to install the nut required small hands & arms to reach in under/around the engine and around the tube axle.
Interesting fact from the manual, to check the oil level the engine must be running when the oil level is checked. This is so that the oil cooler system is full and does not give a false reading and the operator has the incorrect oil level.

Utilised a thread tap to clean out the holes for the hull plates and installed the coolant drain hull plate.

[Darrin Wright]

With the cooler weather in the morning I started work on the rear armoured diff cover. This required a lot of heat to removed some broken studs, straighten brackets and straighten the angle iron that secures it to the rear stowage box shelf.
This armoured cover has a mounting block welded to the inside, not sure what it is for, possible the diff breather hose. Have asked the question on MLU.
http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=21602

Carefully cut the mudguards off with the angle grinder and this allowed me to straighten the angle iron. This BGC is fitted with a shorter, curved 1/4" thick rear mudguard. I have not seen too many BGC with this. Most are flat and a little bit thinner in construction. Just an observation, just that bit harder to panel beat.
Positioned my NOS 42 & 43 shovel to check the fit and brackets that I will fabricate soon, a tight fit between the exhaust pipe outlets and where the shovel is.

Next step will be to fabricate the missing brackets and weld them on, them straighten and weld on the rear mudguards. Then off to the sandblasters for a clean up.

[Lynn Eades]

From the manual

[Darrin Wright]

There may be several references, with a slight variation, on checking & topping up engine oil.
Thanks Lynn

[Darrin Wright]

Brief update from the weekend, due to the hot weather minimal work got done and no pics.

I have removed and drilled the diff fill plug and have braze welded in some steel tubing to make the diff breather pipe. Still have to finish the tubing/hose and make a P clamp to secure it to the rear armour plate.
Straightened the rear mudguards and tried to square them up.
Straightened and corrected the hinges of 2 of my rear stowage bins, so now the lids close/open easily. This was just a matter of pulling in the hinge so that it aligned with the remainder of the hinge and was closer to the body of the box.
Done some work on the Jeep & cleaned it in preparation for going to Corowa.

[Darrin Wright]

Last week I dropped in to Vintage Wiring Harness at Ringwood, Melbourne and had a chat with Paul the owner. Very interesting what/how they do things there. Purchased some of the armoured coil for the rear wiring for the tail lights and some fabric braided wiring to go to my sender units on the engine.

On the weekend it was hot again, but I did connect the oil cooler and install the oil diversion plug (see pic), the metal braided hoses are connected. I did have to alter the plumbing slightly to accommodate my mechanical oil gauge on the back of the block/ oil supply side to the cooler.
I did fit a clutch rod and check the bends & angles in preparation for bending my clutch rod and fitting it.

On the return to Melbourne I got caught up in the fire at Tallarook/Hume Hwy and got diverted back to Seymour. Stayed the night in the area as roads were closed and there was not enough info to make a safe decision regarding travel. Work did not mind.

[Darrin Wright]

During the week another BGC arrived at home, out of storage, by a backload on a tilt tray.
This is good for parts only, and some of them are already at the sandblasters getting cleaned.
This hull came from a very coastal area and had some rust in it. I did not treat it and the salt has really eaten into it. The armour has suffered the most and the cast steel not touched.
I do not know what the hull number is. Believe it to be an early hull as the air scoop is welded in, no mufflers fitted, riveted rear end.

[Darrin Wright]

Just collected the third prototype leather boots for the steering axle that go on the outside of the hull.
These boots are of a thin leather, machine sewed and the fit is really good.
Will fit them up to a BGC in Melb to check the extension of the boot when the steering axle moves left & right.
I don't expect any problems and have a second pair off to be machined.

[Darrin Wright]

With Fridays good weather, I dropped the LHR suspension unit off to be sandblasted. This was collected later in the afternoon and undercoated. I was going to use the last of my green paint to give it a coat of colour, but the paint had gone solid.

Saturday- it rained all day.
Using Euan's clutch rods as samples (borrowed), I bent up my rod in the same style; however, my rod required its own unique bends to get it from the pivot linkage on the centre bulkhead to the clutch throw-out are/lever. This took about 2 hours of bending and test fitting to get right. It is in now.
I also cut and installed the leather grommet for the accelerator & clutch rod to pass through on the engine bay divider plate.

With the rods in, there was no excuse not to install the radiator. With my wife assisting, we lifted it over the hull side and down into position.
I did discover that the Macs Auto radiator mount kit, that I bought months ago, did not quite fit. The bolts are too short due to the extra thickness of the engine/radiator C channel rails in the hull. To over come this I got two bolts a little bit longer and drilled them for the split pins, otherwise the rest of the kit was usable.
Another point to note, I cut my clutch rods from the lengths listed in the parts book. These lengths are incorrect, I think they got the front & rear mixed up, Will find out for sure when I get to install the front clutch rod.

[colin jones]

Hey Darrin, great job. There's one thing I have found with the parts book and that's to use as a guide only. There is a lot of differences in measurements from actual size and what the book says. I too learnt the hard way and now never make anything unless I copy an original or have confirmation from someone that has one.

[Darrin Wright]

I have just picked up 2 fuel tanks that I had built from a very good sample.
These were built by Simon Allen at Chewton (bscallen at bigpond.com), Victoria. (unpaid advertisement!! ) Simon also makes other BGC items if interested.
They were built with the holes cut and one end not welded in, this is so that I can insert my original fuel pickups, fillers with flame arrestors and a drain plug fitting.

[Darrin Wright]

I collected the second batch of leather boots, this pair are for my project, and installed them to the hull. I utilised some heavy gauge galvanised wire to secure/tie-wire the boots to the exterior of the steering axle. So as to get the wire in the groove on the steering axle, I put a loop in each corner and this pulled the wire in tight against each flat surface. I have seen this technique used on other BGC. I have also seen 2 to 3 thin wire strands wrapped around the boot as well. This technique worked best for me.

The previous week I also put an order in for glass to be cut for the vision covers in the front of the hull. I collected these items on Saturday. They are of modern glass with a 6% tint. That should protect my eyes against sun glare whilst driving.

I also commenced some of the vehicle wiring, starting with the rear conduit section to the lights. Had to utilise a small cord/rope as a pull through to encourage the wiring through the conduit. I am going to run an additional wire, as an earth wire, to ensure that I have no problems with circuitry/earths in the vehicle lights.

[Darrin Wright]

Well in the last 3 weeks have been busy preparing vehicles and camping equipment for our annual trip to Corowa.

have managed only small jobs, but was fortunate to be able to borrow a little colour book, produced in Jan 43, from a fellow VMVC member. I had the light stone colour sample matched at the paint shop and now have 4Lt of light stone paint for my camouflage pattern.

The light stone was matched up very close to Champagne Y52, but the paint shop has the recipe for it.

The weekend of the end of Corowa, myself and a friend did some work on the BGC, but will download pics and more of a story later.

[Darrin Wright]

Forgot to mention the colour sample booklet also had Khaki Green, I put this next to my green as a comparison and it is within shades. Would be closer if my green was 100% flat.

End result, I am very happy with my green.

[Darrin Wright]

Took Monday off as a friend was down from Darwin and I was not too enthusiastic about returning to Melbourne. So, with little encouragement, we both worked in the hull and got some jobs done. Makes up for the small amount of work in the last 3 weeks.

We cut and installed all the radiator hoses and fitted new hose clamps. Use a smear of grease to assist in getting the hoses onto the radiator outlets and over the thermostat housings.

Installed the NOS choke & throttle cables into their correct positions, but discovered that the inner wire must be shortened and the linkage fittings shortened. Minor remediation work that can be done in the hull. The outer protective cover was a perfect fit.

The pics will give some idea, the 2 blokes are deep in thought about how it all goes together....

[Darrin Wright]

Installed the air induction tubes and bolted them together. Then read the parts book and measured the hose sections. Fitted the air cleaner hoses as per the parts book.
Read the parts book and assessed the hose section above the carby, we came to the realisation that this is a critical part as it may interfere when the engine cover is fitted.
So we then installed the engine cover (test fitting only) and measured & cut the hose section above the carby. This worked out to be 6 1/2" in length. Installed new hose clamps. There is not mush clearance between the air induction tubes and the engine cover.

Had problems with the hose section from the air induction tube to the LH air cleaner. After measuring the air cleaner bracket's position, discovered that the bracket was welded into the air scoop 1/2" lower than where it should have been and 4mm outboard. This meant that I had to cut a new section of hose to make it all fit and seal up.

With the RH seat fitted also did a test fitting of the seat with the engine cover fitted, quite tight, especially with the bracket welded onto the side of the cover near the dip stick tube/holder. This bracket digs into your LH hip joint.

I am still none the wiser about the purpose of this bracket, it may be a bracket for the rifle or bren MG stowage or to stow the 3"mortar bi-pod in the folded position. Anyone with a better idea......?

[Darrin Wright]

Work this weekend was a catch up on numerous small jobs that had been left for later- whatever the reason, it was very satisfying to get them done.
Last weekend I had purchased more bolts, this enabled me to paint them for fitment. I also painted the LHR suspension unit and some smaller parts.

I finally installed the last oil cooler mounting bracket, cut the mounting bolt to a suitable length and now all done up tight.
Painted & cut to length the 2 underside of hull bolts that hold/secure the RHR suspension unit in. Early hulls had these 2 bolts and later they were discontinued. Trap for your players when dismantling and removing the suspension unit from the hull.

Painted and fitted the large wing nut for the Vickers gun shield.

Painted and fitted the coolant overflow pipe bolts, this is now all secure and installed the way it should be.

Painted the LH brake linkage pivot post that was riveted to the floor over the Christmas break. Found and test fitted the linkage pivots that mount to the post.

Disassembled a steering column and removed the mounting plate that holds the lower bearing. Removed the bolt at the base of the steering column that engages with the linkages, who knew this was screwed in? Tried everything else (apart from breaking it). Will get new item machined up in the next 2 weeks. The pic showing this apart has a yellow arrow, this is pointing to a thin sheetmetal dust/water cover that may have protected the bearing- anyone have a better pic of this or dimensions?

Cut out a pivot post from the rusted drivers floor plate, this will be a sample to assist in two new items being made so that I can weld them onto the new drivers floor plate (already laser cut).

I also managed to fix the ride on mower and cut some lawn.

[Dale Jordan]

Hello Darrin do you mean the dust cover in my photo painted grey ? .If so I can take photos and sizes for you . Your carrier is an inspiration to me, if my machine turns out anything like yours . Ill be a happy camper ..Dale PS Darrin looking at your photo of your single station , the nuts to hold it to the hull , should they be on the outside of the hull I checked this out in the books to show them this way around I could be wrong .

[Lynn Eades]

The stubbs generally have a spigot that centers in a hole in the floor before welding. There are 4 different sorts, if I recall correctly.

[Dale Jordan]

Gee Lynn you and I must have been on the same page with this reply. Dale

[Lynn Eades]

Quote: Disassembled a steering column and removed the mounting plate that holds the lower bearing. Removed the bolt at the base of the steering column that engages with the linkages, who knew this was screwed in? Tried everything else (apart from breaking it). Will get new item machined up in the next 2 weeks. The pic showing this apart has a yellow arrow, this is pointing to a thin sheetmetal dust/water cover that may have protected the bearing. Unquote:

The bolt threads into the spider (7/8 UNF?). It has a washer under its head that is folded down against the spider, and another part up to hold the hex of the head.
The plain shank goes down through the clevis slots, under which is a washer, followed by a castle nut (3/8 UNF?) with a split pin.
The dust excluder has a felt seal in it, and the bearing housing in later carriers has a grease nipple in it. The felt in the dust excluder runs on the top of the bearing carrier.

[Darrin Wright]

Thanks Dale for noticing that, I have checked my pics and 2 other hulls that I have here and you are correct. The nuts should be on the outside with the bolt heads to the inside.
Will rectify this weekend.
I had a slight suspicion when I put it together......50/50......did not check pics at the time and went with the logical replacement.

[Darrin Wright]

Well in the last 2 to 3 weeks I have not been able to do too much as I pulled a muscle in my neck. Restricted movement and pain are not idea for doing much, especially working on the BGC.
But I now have the LHR suspension unit fully painted and ready to be mounted into the hull. Some other items have also been painted.
I spent some time knocking wheel bearings etc out of 5 road wheels and pressure cleaned them ready for sandblasting.
Got side tracked and bought another BGC, having to juggle parking spaces/hard standing for them as we go into winter, as the ground is soft and they sink.
Followed up on a lead and visited a farm with some BGC track and front wheels and mounting plates. Settled on a fair price and will collect Anzac day weekend with trailer.

[Darrin Wright]

Prior to Easter I had some machined items for the front & drivers floor plate arrive. This allowed me to get stuck into the drivers floor plate. It was a case of marking out all the bolt holes, creating a template to ensure holes went in the new plate correctly, test fitting and welding in of new pivot posts. After approx 3 hr and help from my son, we had a new floor plate ready for bolts (which I have to buy) to be placed in & welded so that they do not come loose (accelerator and clutch & brake pedal mounts).
Also installed the LHR suspension unit into the hull, installed all the bolts correctly this time.

Installed seals into the 1 wheel that I have ready for installation, also buffed up 2 wheel pins ready to install the wheel later.

With the 5 wheels stripped the previous weekend, it was time to clean 5 sets of bearings, seal retainers and spacers. Found several different types of roller bearings fitted to the wheels. Also found 2 crook bearings.

Another job that I had been putting off was the modification of my jack bracket, for some reason it was 13" high, this is too high for the Joplin jack. The correct BGC bracket is only 11" high, so I removed the base plate, shortened the bracket and re-welded it back to the base plate. It got a coat of paint later in the day with the seal retainer plates for the wheels.

Made the strap that holds the shovel onto the pioneer tool plate, just need to know how high it sits off the plate that it is welded to.

Picture 4 shows the drivers floor plate with the LH 'L' pivot bracket on the pivot post, I am missing the RH bracket, so if anyone has a spare good bracket and they wish to sell, please message me.

Also managed some gardening....but that is not as exciting as making progress on the BGC.

[Lynn Eades]

Well! no you have a really great project to start on (one with rivets!)
What a find!
Can you post a picture of the ID plate please?

[Dale Jordan]

Excellent workmanship Darrin . How come your floor plate has that cut out in the bottom left hand corner , also what height and length did you end up making the shovel bracket ? Dale