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

Darrin Wright · #1 26-08-13, 11:00

Lynn, I was planning on using a leather dressing or Dubin boot dressing/water proof, brush on paste/mixture. On the inside will be grease from the lubrication of the roller and axle. This should keep the leather in good condition.

On the weekend I fitted the RH brake drum, drive plate & sprocket. I also filled the diff with a gear oil.
Started cutting & shaping the R exhaust pipe and adjusted the Mig welder for light gauge steel. Welded up the Y section (see pics) so that all that is left is to place the bolts in and find 2 wing nuts for the small end flaps.
These Y section exhaust sections are different to the later model exhaust in that they are very short. This must have directed the exhaust gas around the diff, hence the later model exhaust's are longer (to get the exhaust gas out from the diff and armoured diff cover). Then there are the BGC with no muffler fitted and just a straight through system.
Placed the remains of my original, old muffler into position just to see what/where I need to concentrate on next.
Beauty about a project at this point in time, no shortage of tasks to go on with.

Still researching into my ignition problem and options, but did fit an accelerator linkage ball to the linkage on the back of the RH cylinder head.

Had a tidy up of the parts that are painted and put them away (were stored on the back of the hull) and also organised some items for sandblasting and some items for painting next time.

Ian Fawbert · #2 28-08-13, 05:21

Quote:

Still researching into my ignition problem and options

Hi Darrin,

Just a thought, did you check your plugs/have the ability to swap to some others- based on my comment a few replies above about the poor quality of new champion plugs at the moment?

Cheers,
Ian.

Darrin Wright · #3 28-08-13, 06:11

Ian, have not got that far as my coil was a bit suspect (hoped that it would have worked) to start with, but the smoke defiantly got out.

I have emailed Jolly's Engineering in the UK asking about their electronic ignition systems, waiting on a reply.

Ian Fawbert · #4 28-08-13, 11:57

Hi Darrin,

Sounds like a good place to start! Best of luck getting it sorted and I hope she's up and running soon!

Cheers,
Ian.

Darrin Wright · #5 10-09-13, 11:49

In the last 2 weeks have been busy with Scouts and this has reduced my ability to work on the BGC, on the other hand I have hiked approx 28km and feeling quite fit.

With the weather improving I sprayed 1 coat of spray putty/filler onto the front of the hull, it will have a week to harden before I can start to sand it down with my sanding board.
Finished both tail pipes that run under the hull, have test fitted them so that I can work out type/style of muffler to purchase. I am unsure if the muffler input is centrally located or off set, so if anyone has a pic of a muffler (top & bottom) that they could share- thanks!

Cut and fabricated a small metal bracket that holds the mortar base plate into its stowage location, only a small job but something that I had forgotten about.
Also bought some of the bolts to secure the cast plates that hold the tube axle rollers in place, still have to get more; but what I have has been painted.

Fitted a carby kit to my Chev blitz, it runs better but still not 100% yet.

Darrin Wright · #6 16-09-13, 11:09

This weekend I had an extra day at home due to work commitments, so made the most of it.
After evaluating what & how the exhaust system should be, I bought 2 mufflers from the exhaust shop in Wodonga. Bought 2 "Sterling 0328 R" mufflers, they are 6" dia x 12" long (original mufflers 14-16" in length- this will give me a little extra room at the top to fit the remainder of the tailpipe). They have a 1 3/4" input & output, both offset by 90 deg with a clockwise twist.

The exhaust pipe in the BGC is 1 1/2" dia, so the exhaust place gave me some pipe that will create a step-down between the 2 sizes.
So with these items I commenced fitting up the exhaust system, cutting and shaping the step-downs and welding.
Still more work as I have to get the R pipe bent to align with the hull floor elbow.

It is becoming apparent that the exhaust system must have been fitted into the BGC and welded up, then the diff fitted. I will install mine so that it is a 2 piece assembly that won't detract from the original item.

Also finished the last Y piece, bought more nuts & bolts so that I could install the outlet flaps for the straight through section/outlet. I had to go with modern wing nuts as I had no originals (cannot remember if I had them or not even though all items were bagged & tagged).

Darrin Wright · #7 16-09-13, 11:22

Due to the good weather I rubbed down the front section of hull that I had applied spray putty to last weekend and re-applied another coat. Will let that dry during the week and rub it down next weekend and it might be about right. Hard work and lots of dust rubbing down that large panel, but wish to keep body filler to a minimum.

Also welded the old pedals onto the new tube section that I have created, made sure that I had the alignment between the clutch & brake pedals correct. I will also install a grease nipple fitting to the shaft/tube as late model BGC had that and it will improve the pedal function. Soon I will move on to the new lazer cut drivers floor plate and start to fit the pedals and drill all the holes.

Also fitted another 6V coil to the engine and checked that it was wired correctly and had spark- yes to both of those; however, ran out of time to attempt to start it.
Next weekend.