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

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Darrin Wright

I am a bit puzzled with several things with this vehicle. 2. The camouflage markings, it is painted khaki green but there are large traces of red/brown camo and black with a sand/white line to separate the black from the green.

Some of the early carriers featured 3-tone camo which I assume to be one of the Jan '42 schemes:

2. Mechanization Circular No. 301 2nd. January, 1942. Mechanical Vehicles- Camouflage Disruptive Painting.

Approval to paint all mechanical vehicles in disruptive camouflage.

Basic colour of vehicles for use in Australia is Khaki Green No. 3

One coat only of disruptive paint is to be applied, either by brush or spray, on top of the basic colour, in either the following three-tone or two-tone designs. All edges are to be kept sharp, it may be necessary to paint the boundary between two colours to obtain sharp definition.

The colour combinations employed:

Three-Tone
1. Light Stone N. Light Brown P. Khaki Green J.
2. Light Green H. Khaki Green J. Black U.
3. Light Stone N. Light Green H. Khaki Green J.
4. Light Stone N. Khaki Green J. Dark Green M.
5. Light Stone N. Light Brown P. Basalt Red S.*

Two-Tone
6. Light Stone N. Khaki Green J.*
7. Light Brown P. Khaki Green J.*

The colour combination selected should approximate to the colours of the country in which it is expected the vehicle will operate.

- For Australian Coastal areas use Sets No. 2, 3, 4, or 6
- For Australian Central and Northern Areas use Set No.5 or 7
- Set No.1 will merge under almost any circumstances.


The presence of black indicates Set No.2 while the presence of red/brown indicates Set No.5 which suggests this carrier was re-camouflaged in the field upon relocating from Coastal to Central/Northern Australia. The sand/white line may be an artifact resulting from this change or perhaps misinterpretation of instructions. Following pics show correct application of 3-tone pattern.

134428 CARRIER 3'' MORTAR (AUST).jpg

Snapshot 5 (7-05-2014 4-54 AM) - Copy.jpg

[Darrin Wright]

Thanks Tony for posting that info, I think I may have seen it before but you have now given it some clarity and put it into perspective/relevance.
That would explain the differences as they belong to different time periods and different locations. I did not think that the LP1 would have got around that much, being manufactured in late 1940 and disposed of mid 1943.
Differnet units and locations may have given it a different look.

Thanks Lynn, that was just the lead I needed to source some boots. I now have a fine pair of boots to use in location. The local brake place had some clutch slave cylinder boots, Lockheed 1778, Made in England for $5ea. The fit is good at the hull 1 3/4", and a little big at the rod end where it should be 3/4". The length is about right, but may be a little short on the extension; however, since it will only be in the compression action I do not see it being a problem. It will function correctly and keep the mud/dust out as much as possible.

A very productive weekend, met a BGC owner passing through on a weekend away, talked and exchanged info for several hours.

My machined items arrived during the week, so these were bronze welded to the brake rods, installed NOS return springs and washers. Still have to be painted green.

A minor job that I had been putting off, was to cut and modify the choke & throttle cables to suit so that the ball ends were in the right place. I suspect that the cables were all made to the same length and, when installed, were cut to the correct lengths.
When cut to the correct length, my wife and I then bronzed the end fittings into place. Managed to finish the throttle linkage and start the choke linkage.

I also had all the materials at hand to manufacture the front seats, so commenced this. One problem that I had was the left seat lower bracket, where this bracket engages in the lower tabs was also where they tested the hardness of the armour. This meant that the lower bracket had to be bent to allow for the bulge in the armour (see attached pic).

[Darrin Wright]

With all the materials at hand I made the front seats.

I have used a high density 1" foam with 12mm ply as the back rest section.

Foam and board was cut to the dimensions in the parts book.

The off-set of the back board & armoured cover was calculated from a pic that Euan sent me and the installation of all the items.

Used coach head bolts as per the parts book.

I also had to drill a hole/recess in the ply for the radiator upper support stay/rod that protrudes through the hull bulkhead.

Assembled it all into position loose and when happy removed it from the hull and tightened it. Just have to bronze up the UNC wing nuts I have (they are old style with the mickey mouse ears) and re-thread them with a UNF thread to suit the upper studs.

The bottom seat cushions have been made, dimensions as per the parts book, with medium density foam that is 2" thick.

The vinyl is named "olive" from an Australian manufacturer called Warwick. Blends in with the khaki green paint. I did overestimate the amount of vinyl that I required and now have approx. 3m left over. In time this will re-cover the seats when worn out or damaged.

[Darrin Wright]

As discussed in a thread on seats by Dale, it is important to not make the front seat cushion back rest too thick as this will hinder the operation and access to the drivers tool box.

See pic, this is something that I had neglected until raised in that thread- Thanks.

This thickness will be firm on my back but should give me space to move my arms and turn the steering wheel without too much effort and cracking my elbow on the hull corner.

[Lynn Eades]

Darrin, I thought those 1778 would be too big, so I picked the smaller one of that type (the 260) If it helps anyone the 1778 Lockheed boot was the boot from the tandem master cylinders as fitted to the three, four, and five ton Bedfords (like an RL)
The hole in the ply probably helps let air in and out.

[Darrin Wright]

Saturday afternoon my wife suggested that we go for a bike ride with the kids, so with the Murray River very low, we decided to go to the causeway between Albury & Wodonga.
Excellent opportunity to check out a number of BGC that were buried many years ago.
Had to hack a path through the black berries and trees
I have known about these vehicles for 26 years and have acquired several parts along the way. back then I counted 12-17 BGC. Now due to tree growth, erosion I counted 5.
Most are LP2 or LP2A, but there was a 2 pdr AT. There is a LP1 (see pic).

The kids enjoyed the adventure, my wife not as much....won't be going for a bike ride there again....

[Darrin Wright]

Apart from bike riding I did do a little work in the shed, got my 2 boys down to assist.
Cut and welded the cable end fitting on to the choke cable, fitted the cable correctly and tightened all the bolts.
These end fittings came from Mac's Auto and are for a dual carby set up, I just cut it in 1/2 and drilled the rods to suit the cable wire. One fitting is a left thread, but that is not a problem.

Also commenced the installation and drilling of holes in the rear shelf for the stowage boxes.
Working from the left, managed to get the 2 left boxes drilled and bolted into position and the large box location drilled. It still requires several coats of paint.

Installed the left front seat to the floor.

[Keith Webb]

Any hull numbers on these Darrin?

And please post more pics! Big ones!!

Originally Posted by Darrin Wright

Saturday afternoon my wife suggested that we go for a bike ride with the kids, so with the Murray River very low, we decided to go to the causeway between Albury & Wodonga.
Excellent opportunity to check out a number of BGC that were buried many years ago.
Had to hack a path through the black berries and trees
I have known about these vehicles for 26 years and have acquired several parts along the way. back then I counted 12-17 BGC. Now due to tree growth, erosion I counted 5.
Most are LP2 or LP2A, but there was a 2 pdr AT. There is a LP1 (see pic).

The kids enjoyed the adventure, my wife not as much....won't be going for a bike ride there again....

[Luke R]

Originally Posted by Darrin Wright

Saturday afternoon my wife suggested that we go for a bike ride with the kids, so with the Murray River very low, we decided to go to the causeway between Albury & Wodonga.
Excellent opportunity to check out a number of BGC that were buried many years ago.
Had to hack a path through the black berries and trees
I have known about these vehicles for 26 years and have acquired several parts along the way. back then I counted 12-17 BGC. Now due to tree growth, erosion I counted 5.
Most are LP2 or LP2A, but there was a 2 pdr AT. There is a LP1 (see pic).

The kids enjoyed the adventure, my wife not as much....won't be going for a bike ride there again....

So when will you be digging out the LP1 Darrin