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

[Darrin Wright]

Should have posted this up earlier, but anyway...

Since I do not have a crane to lift my hull up I resorted to having to lift it up with a bottle jack and blocking it as it went. I got it high enough (and safe enough) so that I could get in under it with the oxy to cut all the bolts that retain the exhaust pipes in place and heat up the exhaust elbows mounted in the floor.
Managed to removed the exhaust system from the hull intact, saved it so it will become a sample for what has to go back in later.
Aslo straightened some of the underside brackets while there.

I did find that heating up the portion of broken bolt that was protruding, letting it cool, gentle smack or whack with a hammer and then it would come out. I have one bolt left to remove that holds the seat brackets in in the front of the hull. Just trying to find the time as that one will have to be drilled. I might try and weld a small bolt to it and see if it will un-screw...

[Darrin Wright]

Spent a couple of hours with the oxy heating up and dismantling the brackets for the seat bases and the floor mounts. A couple of brackets broke and will need some repair work to get them back to a satisfactory and useable standard.

Sunday I went to the Jindera Swap Meet (just north of Albury NSW), planned on taking the Command Car to the swap (just for a drive to get it out of the workshop) but the truck would not start (could have been a bit cold).
So I took a normal car and arrived in half the time and still able to feel my fingers, the swap was a bit disappointing. The only thing military were some 1950s wooden .303 ammo boxes, a couple of large flat galvanised ammo boxes and 2 Ford blitz truck manuals. I ended up buying a tapping handle as the one that I had broke a couple of years ago.
I did notice that the price of an egg & bacon sandwich has gone up while the amount of bacon has decreased significantly!