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

[Darrin Wright]

I have been putting off the wiring as it is a bit of a puzzle as to how it was installed, and quite a hard task.

Managed to thread the wiring through the flexible conduit that goes into the engine bay, and have wired up the engine.
Have utilised a 4mm wire for the charge circuit as it will carry up to 30 amp, also used fabric braided wire over the engine.
When connecting the wire to the oil sender the b%&*#y screw broke, so will have to get another sender unit.

Threading the wired through the flexible conduit took 3 hours, 10 m of MIG wire, 1 roll of electrical tape, 1 can of soft drink and all of my patience.

However, with materials used, should never have a fault with it and therefore, should never have to do that again....

Still have to finish wiring up the rest of it....

[Darrin Wright]

Just a minor update;
both track have been de-rusted and painted with kill-rust matt black paint. Now sitting on pallets.
Utilised the Jeep today to pull the hull forward in the workshop and installed the long brake actuating rods. Poor old Jeep didn't like the load very much, even in low range.
Just have to make more clevis pins to connect it up.

The plan is to roll the hull out of the workshop onto its tracks early Saturday with the help of a friend, and to have the tracks on and driving back into the workshop under its own power. Otherwise I have no way of getting it back into the workshop.....

Have had the engine running and tested the clutch and gear box, all is good and it picks up all gears. The gear lever appears to have a fair bit of movement across the gate, quite a sloppy operation. Not sure what/how it should be.

Will read the manual regarding track installation, but I anticipate laying the track out, pulling the BGC onto the rear 1/2 of track and then manually pulling the track back across the top of the suspension ( to the rear of the vehicle) and connecting it up, with the use of the track winch, between the sprocket and last road wheel. Install a pin and check tension.

[Dale Jordan]

Excellent Darrin I can't wait to see her with tracks on as well . Bet you can't either . Which way are you going to put the tracks tails fore or aft ?

[Darrin Wright]

I have read the manual and it states for track orientation that the short section of track (the section that has 2 sections for the pin) should go to the front when viewed on the ground.
However, it also states that for New Zealand BGC that the track should go around the other way.

Why? Did they know something we didn't? Was it a trial?

I have also consulted my reference pics and have discovered that many people have their tracks on back to front, this has created doubt in my mind as to my understanding of what is written in the manual.

[lynx42]

Originally Posted by Darrin Wright

I have been putting off the wiring as it is a bit of a puzzle as to how it was installed, and quite a hard task.

Managed to thread the wiring through the flexible conduit that goes into the engine bay, and have wired up the engine.
Have utilised a 4mm wire for the charge circuit as it will carry up to 30 amp, also used fabric braided wire over the engine.
When connecting the wire to the oil sender the b%&*#y screw broke, so will have to get another sender unit.

Threading the wired through the flexible conduit took 3 hours, 10 m of MIG wire, 1 roll of electrical tape, 1 can of soft drink and all of my patience.

However, with materials used, should never have a fault with it and therefore, should never have to do that again....

Still have to finish wiring up the rest of it....

Doing a great job Darrin, but what is with the RED coil? With such a good restoration shouldn't you have the correct crab distributor coil? I am sure that there are plenty around. I may even have a spare one here.

Keep up the good work.

Regards Rick.

[Darrin Wright]

Hi Rick,
that is my special red racing coil....

I have converted it to 12V and to my knowledge, there are no Bakelite coils in 12V only 6V.
This has been done in preparation for electronic ignition to suit the divers helmet distributor.
I do have a 6V Bakelite coil from the original setup.

Today I adjusted the brakes at the drums, after reading the manual several times.
The right brake adjusted up really well; however, the left brake was a little bit hard to get correct. It may be on the tight side, will see soon enough.

Connected up the long brake rods and adjusted as per the manual.

Manufactured 3 more clevis pins for the linkages in the front.

Set about adjusting the linkages in the front of the hull, reading the manual as I went.

Steering & brakes work well on the right, not as well on the left. May require running in and more adjustment as we go.

[jack neville]

Darrin, I hollowed out the original coil that mounts on top of the distributor to accommodate the electronic ignition. Interference. I will mount a normal coil in an unobstrsive spot on my 39 ute so at first glance it looks original. Even easier to hide in a carrier.

[Darrin Wright]

Last couple of days have been small jobs in preparation for putting the tracks on.

A friend offered to assist, so this morning (Saturday) we moved the tracks out onto the concrete and laided them out and aligned them with the road wheels.
Used the Dodge this time to tow the BGC out of the workshop and onto the tracks.

Working on the left side first due to position of the hull on the tracks, man-handled the tracks over the road wheels to the sprocket. With a small crowbar we levered the track down/over the sprocket so that we were in a position to connect the track winch to both ends of the track.
Wound the track winch up and brought the 2 sections of track together. Connected them by inserting 1 link into each side of track.

Repeated this for the other side.

Paint marked the join in the track so that I can lead plug it later. But I anticipate having to break track again to adjust brakes and tension track as it wears in & stretches. However, the front stub axles are all the way to the rear, so have plenty of adjustment left as required.

[Darrin Wright]

More action pics as I know people love pictures.

I do.

[Darrin Wright]

Once we had the track on, gentle test drive back & forth on the concrete to ensure all links were pivoting and that no track horns/teeth were fouling. Just had to make sure all was good.
Then it was off down the drive way (40m distance) in 1st gear, testing the track displacement steering and braking.
Had my doubts about the brakes, but they worked. Obviously not in race car style, but they did stop it.
Conducted a RH pivot/brake turn and returned back to the workshop.

Surprisingly light on the steering and turning, which surprised me. Its been 10 years since I have driven a BGC any great distance.

Have found several teething issues that I will have to resolve before more driving can be done.

It is parked in the workshop, on carpet so as not to tear up the painted floor.

[Darrin Wright]

I also fabricated a battery hold down clamp, similar to the drawing in the parts book. Just have to get a sheet metal cover made for the top, to protect the battery clamps & posts.

Working on finishing the fuel tanks; however, my soldering skills have somewhat deteriorated over time so may have to take the tanks to a radiator shop to be finished.

[Darrin Wright]

After placing the tracks on and running it the short distance, without the fan running, a small crack on the seam of the top radiator tank appeared. So out with the radiator and off to the radiator repair shop.
This also gives me the opportunity to fix up the gear lever play and position, this has been in & out 4 times to get right. It is possible to remove and install this with the power pack installed- bugger of a job.

Due to necessity I have had BGC mirror arms and mount brackets manufactured. I have never come across a useable assembly.
Euan loaned me an original, so had this drawn up in CAD and manufactured on a CNC machine. Collected today.
They are currently listed in the "For sale" section, so hopefully will sell them.

The pic shows the items(s) and the hex bolt (in tapered hole) is just to hold item in position for pic.

I am more than happy with the quality and finish.

[Darrin Wright]

Had the battery cables re-made as I was not happy with the previous cables as they were too short and too thick.
Had the earth cable made to length and covered in a cloth braided cover, looks the part now and it is modern.
Cables now installed into the hull & engine bay.

Replaced the starter motor back onto the engine.

All this electrical work has forced me to start on the wiring and installation of the conduit.
Pre-wired some of it on the bench, then installed it and slowly working through it installing wiring that was already in place.

I think if I had to do this again, it would be easier to make a frame out of the hull, assemble the conduit into place loose, run the wires, connect/tighten the conduit, then install it into the hull from the rear. This would mean having to do this before the RHR suspension unit went on, before fuel tank brackets in & before air scoop went back in (if you have the luxury of having a removable air scoop).

Pics show todays progress, manufactured a Bakelite spacer and mounted the horn button in place and wired it up (as much as possible).
Installed the NOS horn.
Pic of conduit on floor half assembled.
Mess in back of hull as I slowly work through running wires in conduit.

[Dale Jordan]

This post is good timing for me Darrin . As I'm at that stage now . Yes I can understand how hard it must be for you now . Not much room down there , as it's hard enough for me without the engine and air scoop in the hull . Great photos and info for other carrier owners on the MLU . Once my wiring loom turns up I'll follow your lead and run it through the conduit and install it early in the build .. keep the photos coming . P.S I have seen a photo somewhere showing a joint in the 3/4 inch conduit that goes under the RHS station just in front of it , which makes sense as it would be hard to get it all together in one peace underneath that station support I've tried that when I did a dry fit last week . Dale

[Darrin Wright]

Today I installed the cover for the brake rod in the gunners floor area and installed the ammo tray for the Vickers MG.
Have also installed my new mirror arm bracket to the hull, luckily I had kept the 5/16 UNF tapered head machine screws/bolts. Modern bolts have a larger head and it is very hard to fine a straight slot machine screw, usually they are the dual head type.

Have installed the Box Stowage Cooking Unit into the LHR section of the hull. Had to manufacture a spacer plate as I believe the mounting blocks welded into the hull (same as the LP2A configuration) have been placed in the wrong place. Or, there is the possibility, there was a purpose built box for the 3" mortar CES/items (I would guess for the stowage of the mortar sight). Unfortunately no drawings exist of the modifications to convert the vehicle over.

That is my best guess.

Have my radiator back from the repair shop, hopefully will get it back into the hull this weekend.

Made some headway with the wiring loom & conduit.

[Darrin Wright]

Here are some detailed shots of the conduit that may assist others.

I have the wiring and conduit completed, the dash is wired up. I have installed a fuse block and loom connectors to assist with installation & removal of the dash (there is a lot of wire back there!).
Installed a new voltage regulator.

Have completed a lot of small and not so small jobs.
Radiator has had the top tank repaired and re-installed, cooling system filled.
Battery installed and circuit testing done (several times). Don't want to melt something.

Installed new fan belts, B-53, and adjusted the generator. I had to manufacture a 4mm spacer plate for the fan blades as they were too close to the distributor and coil plate. They sit in the shroud fine.

I have had the fuel tanks TIG welded- ends installed and plates installed. Today I spent several hours washing and preparing the fuel tanks for POR-15 fuel tank sealer, sealed the tanks and they are currently drying for the next 3 days. Will paint them green in the next day or 2.

[Darrin Wright]

Last weekend I took a break and got the Dodge out for a car show supporting a local school and the road safety message.
Very good weather, lots of cars from the 1960s to 2014. It was marketed towards cars with chrome.

My Dodge and another persons 44 Jeep were the oldest cars there.

The peoples choice awards went to a 1995 Ford Falcon, a HR Holden sedan and another car of the same ere. All were customised and had huge V8 engines.

Still, each to their own and it was a good day out.

[Darrin Wright]

In the last week the fuel tanks have dried with the POR-15 fuel tank sealer, have installed the pick up tubes with new gaskets, installed the flame arrestors and caps.

Fuel tanks have been painted green a couple of times and have been installed.
Prior to installing the tanks I had to cut the felt spacers/lining strips and glue them onto the mount brackets.

The tanks fit snugly into their location.

Installed the new fuel hoses to the pick ups, purchased the hoses from Macs Auto in the USA.

Installed the RH seat and assembled the LH seat and installed it into it's location.

The dash has been installed and have only minor tasks to fix there. Have installed the horn into position; however, the new horn I had purchased years ago does not work. Have used the multi-meter and it appears that it just does not work, there are no obvious faults and the volts go where they should. Will try and source another Ford horn internals.

I panelbeated the LH guard and had it sandblasted, it has now been painted green and installed. With this on, it allowed me to install the headlights and connect them up. I have modified and installed a new light and lens into my head lights, they are running at 55W and a bit bright and get a little bit hot. Will look to installing a smaller wattage globe to see if this helps, but I will definatly be able to see at night.

So after all this work it was time to test the vehicle, started with cranking the engine over by the remote button on the starter solenoid in the rear. No problems there, so started it from the dash. With a little bit of choke (I adjusted the idle screws during the week and it runs a little better than before) it fired up straight away.
NOTE: when the tracks were put on I had a dodgy wiring circuit for the ignition.

I have driven it around the back yard, up the drive way, around the house nearly took out the mail box and my sons apple tree. But it steers, stops & accelerates when it should.
I have found that the driving controls are not very well placed, and when trying to displace the track on a slope (turning) is a bad idea as you are trying to move the weight of the hull against the slope or gravity. For the steering to work the vehicle must be moving.

Took my boys and wife for a drive around the house and they love it, smiles from ear to ear.

So will continue to work on the little jobs and continue to iron out the little issues. Have already adjusted the brake linkage on the LH side.

It is lots of fun.

[Darrin Wright]

headlights work with their blue lens and the dash installed.
dash still requires a final paint and the speed plate to be installed.

I did install 2 new water pumps as the RH pump continued to leak, sourced them from Flat Attack Racing in Adelaide and they work well with high flow impellors. The cooling system is not getting too hot, the gauge sits just above "N", but unsure how calibrated the gauge is. May look at getting a lazer temp gun to check.

[Howard]

Great work, Darrin. A great read.
H

[Darrin Wright]

Howard, the story is not over yet, still have to camouflage paint it, apply correct markings for the 10/48 Inf Batt AIF for when they were in Darwin during 1942-43 and install the CES and what little 3" mortar equipment it have.

[motto]

Darrin, I'm not specifically acquainted with the horn used on the UCs (as well as various Fraud vehicles of the time)but would have thought it to have adjustable vibrating points like most other horns.
If it is adjustable and you try to do so, the horn should be mounted on its correct bracket as they can behave quite differently if just hand held or lying on a bench.
Also, like any set of points, they must be clean.

Dave

[Mike Cecil]

Darrin,

10 Aust Infantry Battalion (The Adelaide Rifles) were linked to 48 Aust Infantry Battalion (The Torrens Regiment) as at 27 August 1942. Note the preservation of traditional State-based linkages in unit amalgamations.

The unit 'went AIF' sometime in 1943, to become 10/48 Aust Infantry Battalion (AIF), at which time they formed part of 23 Aust Infantry Brigade.

The unit markings should be:

Unit marking: 53 in white on a red square
Formation marking: buffalo over a boomerang (Northern Territory Force)

As an added touch, you could mark the crews kitbags or extraneous unit equipment etc with the USN:
Unit Serial Number marking: 46169 over a grid of three colour bars, top to bottom: buff/white/buff

Mike

[Darrin Wright]

Thanks Mike for the input, I have been doing research but my time & access to reference material is a bit limited, so really appreciate your information.

So that I can learn and be corrected, I was going to paint the following unit markings for the following reasons:

Unit marking brown square and white 82
Because the 10th & 48th Inf Batt belonged to the 3rd Inf Bde and their seniority within the 4th Inf Div. I understand it to be the most senior Brigade to be red, then 2nd Brigade to be green and then the less senior Brigade to be brown.
The 82 is a bit of a guess; however, I do have a pic form the AWM that shows (attached pic) what appears to be a 82 or 62 on the left guard. Also in the pic is the mortar base plate stowed on the RH guard in front of the driver.

Formation marking was the Echidna (white) over the Boomerang on a black square as that was the 4th Inf Div sign and they possible kept it while rotating through Darwin and the NT.


I purchased your book so that I could get the USN information for the 10/48 Inf Batt.
I thought of placing this info on the bulkhead above the gunners seat position in the front, this appears to be a common place on BGC for shipping and auction information.

On a side note, the BGC in the pic from the AWM has 33 painted on the side of it, this would be the vehicle call sign, I know of another BGC that is converted to the Mortar Carrying role that has 32 on the side, while my vehicle never had the large numerals painted on it, I think my call sign was M31.
This is painted white on a black rectangle with a coloured arrow pointed up ( I have no idea what the arrow means???).

Thoughts?

[Dale Jordan]

Hi Darrin . Can you tell us more about camo ? was it sprayed on in the factory or in the field ? What about below the panniers any light stone down there ? . Are you going to mask hard edge or free hand with faded over spray edges . . Dale

[Darrin Wright]

Dale,

When it left the factory it was painted in khaki #3, it was spray painted in a sand colour or possible light brown, then it was modified to a Mortar Carrier and brush painted with khaki green to give the final 2 tone camo pattern. This is evident from the levels of rust that have removed the paint, the pattern of the stowage boxes in the paint and the paint brush marks.

I will be utilising a good quality brush to paint the light stone onto the hull, this will cover approx. 50% of the hull, and I will follow the original pattern.
I took lots of pics of this before commencing work. Unsure if the suspension is painted, as that was the most weathered sections and hard to tell original colour.

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Darrin,

OK, see your point, however this was my logic based upon formation and unit orders, and based upon your desire to represent 10/48 Infantry Battalion (AIF). This places the unit within a date range from March 1943 onwards (until the signage system changed in August 1944), as the unit did not 'go AIF' until about that date. (If you scratch the 'AIF' from the title, it date range could be Sept 42 onwards....)

10/48 Inf Bn arrived in NT as part of 3 Inf Bde in September 42, soon after amalgamation between 10 and 48 Inf Bns had taken place in August. Just before that, 10 Inf Bn had been in Sydney as part of 1 Inf Division prior to amalgamation with 48 Inf Bn - they are listed on 1 Div's ORBAT for 22 June 1942, with the unit sign 63 on a green background.

By end Dec 42, 10/48 Inf Bn had been transferred to 23 Aust Infantry Brigade, which was part of NT Force. (By then, 4 Div was in WA and well out of the picture).

The formation sign for NT Force/12 Aust Div came into existence in early 1943, and was promulgated by NT Force HQ as applying to all vehicles within the Force.

10/48 Inf Bn remained in NT Force until 1945, moving several times during that period: Nov 42 from 51.5 Mile to Fanny Bay; March 43 from Darwin Fortress to 37 Mile Camp; Nov 43 to Parap Camp; Dec 43 to 69 Mile Camp; March 44 back to Parap Camp, and May 44 to 67 Mile Camp, and so on.

So, the markings for 10/48 Inf Bn (AIF) have to post-date the Unit voting to 'go AIF', hence after March 1943. At that time they were (1) part of 23 Inf Bde and (2) with the higher formation of NT Force.

When the unit was posted to join 23 Inf Bde, they were allocated the unit sign of 53 on a red background, as per NT Force GS Instruction dated 15 December 1942. In early 1943, NT Force issued instructions that all vehs were to carry the buffalo over boomerang sign (and others were to be obliterated).

Hence, by March 1943 when the unit 'went AIF', the essential elements of the sign that come together for 10/48 Inf Bn were: 53 red background; Buffalo over boomerang.

As regards 82 on brown, this was indeed the marking for the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Brigade within an Infantry Division, but the actual application of same at unit level was also subject to a whole raft of other factors. And besides, 10/48 were, in theory, the 3rd Inf Bn within the 3rd Infantry Brigade within NT Force (23 Inf Bde had 7, 8, and 10/48 Bns), so in theory should have had the number '77' on the unit sign anyway. Why 53 on red? Hell, I don't know: some officer in higher HQ said so, that's why!

So, what you ultimately decide is up to you: it is your track, and what a truly magnificent job you are doing on it, too.

Regards

Mike

[Darrin Wright]

Mike, thank you for your comprehensive & detailed information on these unit markings.

Looking at my notes it would appear that I had the earlier unit signage correct (albeit with 1 mistake- the green & brown brigade colours mixed up). I did not have the info for when the unit transferred over to the AIF. So it makes sense and I am glad that I was on the right track going in the right direction.

I wish to make my vehicle correct as per the unit diary entry that I have, because that puts the vehicle in Darwin at that point in time. So will check the date of that entry and take on board your info and will most likely go with the info that you have provided.

EDIT:
Just checked my diary notes and they are from 17 Jan 43 to March 43 and detail that the unit had 21 BGC, 14 in MG configuration and 6 in Mortar configuration (with 1 MG BGC possibly as a command vehicle). Total of 7 BGC in Mortar Pl.
The notes, at this point in time, refer to the unit only as the 10/48th Aust Inf Batt- no AIF yet...

Once again, thank you very much.

[Darrin Wright]

I managed to trade some items for the last stowage box that I required (2nd from right box).
It did have a minor rusted out corner, so that was cut out, patches inserted and MIG welded back together.
Not my best welding; however, the patch work will never be seen due to its location.
Will be blasted early next week, and painted.

I think the 337 is an auction lot number, I did sand it down to see if there were any markings, but no.

[Darrin Wright]

Well after reading Mike's info and doing some research, I have found 2 variations on the NT Force Buffalo marking.
One source states that the signed and official formation marking has the animal facing to the right (as you look at it) over the boomerang.
Another source show"s the animal facing to the left as you look at it.

So which way should it face?

Soon I will take the correct image to the sign place and have a stencil made for spray painting.