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

[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.