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

[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

[Darrin Wright]

These hulls are usually under 3-4 m of water; however, when the river is low and you know where to go, you get to see them.

I was told that they were bought from Bandiana after the war by either the SEC, Baker Motors or a truck wreckers in Wodonga. When they had been stripped they were taken to the river bank to stabilise the bank from erosion.

The willows have grown up and around them, in some cases the trees have pulled the hulls apart.
water and rust have also eaten them up, at times trees have fallen on them or they have been hit by logs floating down stream.
The mainly complete exposed hull had an air scoop in it, but a tree and rust have removed it.
The 2 pdr AT hull has either sunk into the river bed or been washed/dragged down stream.
Some of the other hulls are now so overgrown that they have disappeared into the river bank.
The armour of the LP1 has cracked and is very rusted.
All the hulls have been stripped, so data plates are gone and the rear of the hulls is down in the water and overgrown. Rust has had a big effect on these.
I have managed to salvage some parts from them over the years, but they are only good to use as patterns.
The hull under the tree (log in front) was dragged out from the river many years ago, how and by whom I do not know. It has been used as a incinerator and rubbish skip in the last few years. But the steel in places is laminating off with rust.

Just an interesting piece of local history that gave me an excuse for a bike ride.

[jack neville]

So the bank needed stabilising and someone thought of using some scrapped carriers as re-enforcing. Amazing how some peoples minds think. Reminds me of a loading ramp I heard of in Victoria somewhere made of No.27 limbers. Someone got a stack of just the boxes and formed them into a U shape. The inside was filled with dirt making the ramp.

Didn't see it, just heard the story.

Good idea for a new thread. 'Interesting things ex military vehicles/equipment have been transferred in to.'