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

[Darrin Wright]

That square panel is where someone has cut out a section of the armour and then re-welded it back in.

I think it was done by the Army, educated assumption, as a training task; because most BGC that I have seen with steel cut out has been used for other things and not welded back in.
I have decided to leave it there as it tells a part of its story/history; however, the inside has been welded and ground down so that it is not seen.

I have attached a 'before' pic to show the cut & welded panel.

[Euan McDonald]

Originally Posted by Darrin Wright

That square panel is where someone has cut out a section of the armour and then re-welded it back in.

I think it was done by the Army, educated assumption, as a training task; because most BGC that I have seen with steel cut out has been used for other things and not welded back in.
I have decided to leave it there as it tells a part of its story/history; however, the inside has been welded and ground down so that it is not seen.

I have attached a 'before' pic to show the cut & welded panel.

Could have been an emergency exit!

[Darrin Wright]

Well with the good weather it was time to get that pallet of parts blasted and painted. So I took in the RHR suspension unit, track adjuster bar, tube axle and a box of loose fittings.
Had it back just after lunch and undercoated, later in the afternoon gave it a coat of green.

As I could not assemble the steering axle rollers in the hull, I removed them and assembled them on the bench, then re-installed them back into the hull. With those mounted back in the hull, the boys and I slid the tube axle into the hull. It went in easier than when it came out.

[Darrin Wright]

Picked up the last of the exhaust items and continued with the manufacture of the tail pipe sections.
I bought 2, 180deg mandrel bends and 1 90deg bend to be able to make the S bend pipes. I cut the 180deg bend and found that by turning the cut section and a little trimming it aligned with the shape of the original pipe that I was trying to manufacture.
The pics tell the story of the assembly of these pipes.
Commenced making the brackets to secure the pipes to the hull, will finish off next weekend and weld in the pipes to the mufflers and install into the hull.

Dropped the starter motor off to an auto elec to determine what has gone wrong with it, if it is a simple fix I may get it back working. Will find out in a week.

Also several pics from the inside where the tube axle is and the roller mounting plates.

[Darrin Wright]

Had a delivery of parts during the week, this enabled me to:
fit the hub locking washer to the L side and bolt axles in
fit a new shaft for the clutch fork, into the gear box
fit another starter motor and play around with that
fit the gear box output yoke (drive coupling) to the gear box

I also assembled the exhaust system into the back of the hull with new tail pipe brackets. Then lifted the rear armour diff cover into position to test fit the tail pipe positions and where the mufflers will sit. From this I will now make the brackets to mount the mufflers and finish the exhaust system. Will also straighten the mounting brackets for the rear armour diff cover as this determines how/where the exhaust sits.

Sorry, not much to take pictures of...

[Darrin Wright]

I picked up the stater motor from the auto elec on Friday and swapped over the bendix drive, and today using the car with a new 12V battery attempted to start the engine.
Had to drive into town and get fuel for it as the last lot had been used in the mower.

After winding it over for approx 1 minute I then switched the ignition on and it fired straight away. Only ran it for a minute as I did not have my cooling system attached.
Installed the temporary cooling and have ran it for a couple of minutes with some RPM.
The timing and fuel settings all seem fine.

I have also installed the steering cam plate assembly into the hull and started to install the tube axle rollers and clamps.

Pretty happy with the engine as I was starting to get the s@#t's with the little problems that were stopping it from starting.

Anyway, at last it now runs.

[Ric Davies]

That first engine run is always a great moment. Specially after a few dramas,congrats. Did you go ahead with the electronic ignition ?

[Darrin Wright]

After all the little problems it was awesome to hear it run.

I am still investigating the electronic ignition, I wanted to get it running first to see how it behaves.

I have an email back from Jolly's Engineering in the UK ref the electronic ignition as they are the only ones who have an electronic ignition unit for the V8 with the helmet ignition. I have more questions for them. Their electronic ignition requires a 12V negative earth system, which is not a problem for me.

I have been starting the engine on 12V and have the ignition on 6V, ran the engine some more today to get it warm and check performance.
Oil pressure when warm--- idle is approx. 40-50 psi, high rpm 70-80psi, giving it a bit, oil goes up to 90psi.
There is a bit of bark out the exhaust at high rpm and returning back to idle, not sure if that is timing, over fuelling or a V8 trait.

I also installed the felt sections in the inside of the engine cover where the radiator sits and also the gun mount on the top cover of the engine cover.

Before & after pics of the felt on the inside of the engine cover.

[Darrin Wright]

This weekend not much was accomplished on the BGC, took the Jeep and Dodge out to a local car show Saturday morning not far from home and displayed them from 10 til 2pm. Came with free morning teas and lunches , weather was excellent with many different vehicles on display (approx. 50). Pics attached of a slat grill Jeep, my Jeep & Dodge and a 42 Chev.

Mixed some paint with a 20% flattening base and did a test spray on some small parts, it produced a satin effect. Will look at it again next weekend when completely dry and do another test spray at possible 30% flattening base.
Cleaned up my NOS hand throttle cables and painted them.

Went to fit the steering tube axle clamps that hold the rollers that follow the steering cam plate. Could not fit them as they are an item that it required to be bolted into position before the floor plate is bolted in. Bugger. Will remove the floor plate on the weekend and fit clamps, and refit the floor plate.

Conducted maintenance on the Dodge and trailer in preparation for attending the Temora airshow, refuelled the Dodge, partly packed the trailer with swags, esky & chairs. Will finish packing before setting off.

Last task was to run the engine, pushed it outside and filled the fuel container with 1 Lt of petrol and that allowed it to run for about 15-20 minutes. Oil pressure good, no unusual noises and sounded nice.

Next weekend we will be off to Temora, but for me it is a long weekend so might get some work done on the BGC after the weekend. Or I might have to do some household chores

[Ian Fawbert]

Hi Darren,

Thanks for the continual updates! I sure am enjoying reading (and more so seeing) the progress your making.

Interesting paint on the slat. I had a look at its ARN and it doesnt seem to have been a navy jeep at any stage (written off from 1BOD in 1960). Do you know any more details on it? The ARN matches a slat grill MB, but not the navy side of it- however, i am jst assuming it was originally a RAN jeep and not painted that way by the owner (i was hoping it was originally one but the ARN presence threw me!).

Cheers,
Ian.

[Darrin Wright]

Ian, have some pics of the data plates & dash.
It is owned by a local Jeep collector.
I do not know anymore details of its authenticity or history.

But is a nice tidy slat Jeep.

[Lynn Eades]

Interesting. My MB 135668 is May production. This one is 11000 earlier, with a later production date.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Lynn Eades

Interesting. My MB 135668 is May production. This one is 11000 earlier, with a later production date.

Build date is 6th March 1942

Remember USA write their dates Month-Day-Year

[Lynn Eades]

Of course Richard. What was I thinking?

[Ian Fawbert]

Hi Darrin,

Thanks for that. Well the ARN matches the serial on the plate, so i guess they just wanted to paint it RAN- which, like your follow me, makes for a nice change! I wil have to keep an eye out for it at Corowa if it makes it along and try to have a chat to the owner! and your quite right, it is a very tidy looking slat grill MB (with the neatest stamped MV field spec/nomenclature/census plate ive ever seen!)

Cheers,
Ian.

[Darrin Wright]

Enough of Jeeps and back to the BGC.

Work has been a bit light on over the last 2 weeks due to various family events, but I have removed the floor steering cam plate and installed the clamps with the bolts and rollers that follow the steering cam plate. Re-installed the steering cam plate. Everything has a good coat of anti-seize as it is an area that collects water and prone to rust. I had new rollers machined up and have also installed new bearings into the rollers.

I flushed out an oil cooler that I had, it is a bit weathered but will do the job, with gunwash. This solution is good for dissolving paint & gunk, fortunately the oil cooler was quite clean. Cleaned the exterior with a wire brush and then attempted to paint is black with an aerosol can. I say attempted because of the large surface area of the cooler, it is very hard to get the paint onto all the surfaces.
When completed and dry, I then bolted the cooler into its brackets. At the moment there are only 2 brackets holding it in, I have mis-placed a bracket so will have to hunt that down or try and find another.

Installed what is left of my oil lines, between oil coolers and check valve. Someone used an axe to cut them and remove the brass valve. So the test fitting was to determine how much I have to repair. I have learnt that early BGC had one piece oil pipes and later BGC have a two piece pipe that aids in the installation process. I will try and repair what I have so that I maintain the one piece pipes.

I have also had stainless braided flex oil hoses made that go between the engine and the check valve, they reside on the shelf for when the engine goes in. The way the year is going that may be around Christmas.

I have run the engine some more, putting a litre of petrol through it on 2 occasions. It is running very well, I have not fiddled with the timing. The starter likes 12V DC, so I may change it over to be a 12V system. Within 1 to 2 rotations of the crank the engine has fired.

[Darrin Wright]

This weekend saw me drop the sump on the engine, remove the clutch and lock wire the flywheel bolts. Something that I forgot to do when assembling it back together. Then inspected the underside and the oil in the sump. Only very minor debris from assembly suspended in the oil. Nothing to worry about.
Placed the sump back on after re-sealing the gasket.
Taught my wife how to use the torque wrench, set it, supplied a drawing of the head torque sequence and let her go while I installed the starter motor and other minor things.

Placed the radiator into the hull and positioned it so I could measure and cut the vertical felt cushion/rub strips that rivet onto the air scoop.
Bunning's Hardware, of all places, have the bifurcated rivets used to secure the felt.
Also installed the radiator overflow/steam valve into the air scoop, measured and fabricated the metal line between it and the radiator.

I had the gear box top soaking in the parts wash tub for 2-3 months, removed it and dis-assembled it for rebuild.

During the week a friend machined up 2 new stepped bolts for the yokes that go onto the steering cam plate, now I just have to make the 1/2"dia rods that go to the base of the steering column.

[Darrin Wright]

Took Friday off so that I could attend a clearing sale and picked up some military items and a BGC rear stowage box (second from left in pic). I think it is NOS and when I got it back to the car found that it was full of V8 crab distributors. I also picked up a 1941 US musette bag, with the details of a RAAF Flt/Lt who was in a Transport Sqn as part of the BCOF in Japan. Will have to do some research on him to find out more.

I also picked up some imperial rod that I will utilise for the rods and linkages in the hull. The BGC parts list is quite detailed and gives all the specs etc to fabricate some of these items.
I made the 1/4" accelerator linkage rods and fitted the yokes to the engine bay rod. Will have to make 2 yokes for the rod in the front compartment.

Ran the engine some more over the weekend and fitted the choke/throttle cable bracket to the back of the carby.

Cleaned the gear box top and undercoated it.

[Darrin Wright]

This weekend I cleaned up the selector rails in the gearbox, removed burs and re-assembled it all back in to the gearbox top. Had a little trouble fitting the detent balls, did not have the correct tool as mentioned in the blitz manual, so used a flat tip screw driver. Those little balls sure can travel when the screw driver slips off or when the shaft does not quite go in as it should. Several times I had to turn the light off and look on the floor with my LED torch. And I did wear safety glasses....

I made 2 new 1/2" square yokes for the accelerator linkage rods, painted them and fitted them to the rods for final paint. I also painted the gearbox top and several other smaller items.

Utilising my floor crane, I fitted up the gearbox to the back of the engine. Not quite sure if there is a special trick to doing up the bolt that sits in by the starter bendix cup & clutch arm, I could only do this up part way and finger tight at that. Greased the service points on the clutch. Did not get time to run the engine with the box on, next weekend.
Removed the rear engine mount from the hull and fitted it to the back of the gearbox.

With some flat sheet steel, I measured & cut a new linkage access plate that goes into the base of the air scoop. It is now in the box to be blasted.

[Darrin Wright]

This weekend a few things came together and get done.
Ran the engine, with the gearbox on, and tested all gears. The engine, with the little bit of load from the box, quietened down and ran smoothly, also there was no noise from the gear box. Happy with that, which means it should not have to come off in the near future.

I cut the clutch linkage rods to size, and a friend of mine placed the 7/16 UNF threads onto the ends, then I undercoated them. Also picked up 12 clevis pins to suit the yokes, just have to cut them to length and drill the split pin hole.

I stripped down the Duplex coupling and cleaned it out, then re-greased it, fitted new grease nipples and fitted it to the output yoke on the gearbox.

During the week will look at the oil cooler lines and the fittings and look at reproducing them.

[Darrin Wright]

Picked up a set of lazer cut floor plates (sump drain, gearbox drain, coolant drain & 2 fuel tank drain covers) during the week, from a fellow MLU member.
Will get them blasted and painted over Christmas and installed.

I have also had all the seat cushion foam cut, already have olive vinyl so hope to make the seats and have them installed over the break.

More to follow later

[Darrin Wright]

This weekend before Christmas have done a few small/light jobs, such as:

lightly rubbed the painted surfaces back (the only section not rubbed back is the front interior) this is for a flat coat

made/completed the modification to my choke & throttle cables by brazing the spring loaded yokes to the inner cable, this is so they can attach to the balls/levers on the carby. The spring loaded yokes are from Mac's Auto, an item used to run a dual carby setup on a sidevalve V8, I cut the shaft in the middle & drilled a small hole down the centre of the shafts for the cable to go into to.

continued making clevis pins to suit all my square yoke ends for the steering/braking rods.

Painted my fuel tap and some more steering/brake rods.

Merry Christmas to all over the festive season and take care.

[Darrin Wright]

Over the new year break I took a trip to South Australia to collect many of my parts that I will require. Also picked up items that I have collected over time for the Jeep and Chev.
Returned via Adelaide and stopped off to see Colin Jones and catch up with him and view his projects and current BIG truck project.

Since returning I have unpacked the trailer, made a mess in the workshop, packed away the mess and started work on the BGC.

With the good weather in the last few days I have pushed the hull outside and painted/re-sprayed the hull (except for the front interior compartment) with a 30% universal flattening base. This has resulted in a satin/low sheen affect. Not totally flat, but this will dull from the sun over time and also repel water a little bit better.
Also painted some smaller brackets that will go into the hull straight away.

This was the last task that I had to complete before placing the engine into the hull.
So I hope to get the engine into the hull very soon with my workshop floor crane.

[Darrin Wright]

After leaving the hull outside for the night to dry (warm night) I pushed it into the workshop and commenced fitting some items.
Installed the track winch stowage brackets and turnbuckles.
Replaced the leather strips on the Vickers Tripod mount and bolted it into place, being an early BGC, it did not have the slots cut into it for the bottom 2 bolts. This was a tight job with the steering tube axle in place.
Also fitted 2 weapon mount clamps/posts to the rear of the hull and the air scoop.
Installed the main power cable and shield/conduit from the solenoid to the starter motor.
Installed the rebuilt fuel tap into the hull and the linkage that connects it to the rod in the engine bay floor.
Also installed some clamps on the hull that hold tools etc. It gives me an idea of where everything goes and fits, also if there are problems with items I can start to rectify it/them.

I was going to place the RHR suspension unit in the hull in preparation for placing the engine in, but discovered that by doing so would mean that I could not later install the electrical conduit for the rear lights. Bugger. I have the new conduit, just needs to be painted in the next day or so.

[Darrin Wright]

Found and painted a number of items including all the conduit pieces that I had, while waiting for paint to dry I made up and upholstered the rear seats. I had the hi-density foam cut and a roll of olive vinyl (leatherette as they used to call it).
I had bought back from SA another, better oil cooler; so I washed that out with a cleaning solution and let it soak to remove dust and any oil deposits.

A friend of mine, Ian, came up from Melbourne; so with a little bit of discussion we both set about placing the engine into the hull. I had already placed the conduit in. First lift had the carby & fuel pump attached, unfortunately the crane did not have the lift to clear the hull side with a long sling. So off with the carby and fuel pump and a much shorter sling. This time it went up and cleared the hull, pushed it into position and lowered it down onto the engine rails. Then it had to be man handles back onto the duplex coupleing. After that was done Ian set about tightening the rear mount to the hull floor and I installed the front mounts.
20 Min was engine in.

[Ryan]

Watching and reading on Darrin with much respect.

[Darrin Wright]

With the engine in and mounts done up, we then assembled the RHR seat and installed that into the hull for a test fitting. Little bit smaller than I remember when I was a child riding around in a friends BGC, I don't really have to worry as that is where the kids/friends will be as I will be in the front (hopefully driving it!).
Also installed the RHR suspension station into the hull, was going to use my floor crane to lift it, but with 2 people it was up and in within the minute. Then set about tightening up all the new fasteners. Still have to tighten the 2 engine rail bolts, but they are installed. It is now a little bit tighter with the engine in.
Removed the oil cooler and installed the better item.
Time for tea & sleep.

[colin jones]

Hi Darrin, very nice work. If you want to put it on a trailer and bring it over, I'll give you a hand and we'll git,r,dun before you have to go back to work.
Colin.

[Darrin Wright]

Thanks Ryan for your words and Colin for your offer, unfortunately I have to be back at work in a weeks time and it will take a little longer than that to get it done.

With the temp today expected to be around 37-38 deg C and before Ian had to go back to Melbourne, we set about riveting the LHF brake rod pivot point/post (located on the gunners floor area) back into the hull. I had a new pivot post machined up a little while ago and had bought some 3/8 cold rivets from a swap meet. We measured and cut the rivets to length and then placed them, one at a time, into position. Utilising a bottle jack from underneath to keep them in place we then heated them with the oxy. When red hot Ian compressed (bashed) them with a small sledge hammer until they had compressed into the hole. Then it was a matter of repeating the process until all 4 rivets had been completed.
Touched it up with undercoat when cool.

Later this afternoon I installed the air duct junction piece with correct length hose onto the top of the carby, installed the 2 engine stabiliser rods from the rear of the engine to the rear of the hull, installed the starter solenoid and positive cable & conduit into the hull between the solenoid and starter motor.
I wrapped the left hand exhaust pipe with a heat wrapping and went to install it between manifold and exhaust elbow in the floor. With slotted holes in the exhaust pipe section I would have thought this was an easy 5 min job. No. This task required the manifold to be removed, loosely assembled together, placed into position and then all fasteners done up.

I went to install the accelerator linkage rod, but this rod appears to be bent in a couple of places to go around the starter motor, manifold and water pump and then into the engine bay divider plate to the pivot linkage mounted to the centre bulkhead. More research required before installation as I don't want to just bend it anywhere.

Will continue tomorrow depending on the heat, but this afternoon a friends swimming pool was calling....

[Darrin Wright]

Today I spent some time (about 5 hr) working on the electrical conduit with the oxy and sorting conduit that I had collected previously from different BGC.
All the elbows, joiners, T pieces were heated and separated, what was damaged was replaced with other items.
I managed to create and layout the complete system on the workshop floor to ensure I had everything.
This will be sandblasted during the week depending on the weather. I stopped working today as it was 39 deg C on the veranda. They are predicting 39 to 41 deg C during the week, so not much work will get done during the middle of the day (by me anyway).

Some things I learned today about electrical conduit in BGC:
it was painted gloss black and installed into the hull where it was painted khaki green
fittings were made by T&S (not sure who/what this company is/was)
all the different manufacturers assembled the electrical conduit differently utilising different fittings
photograph it before pulling it apart & you can never take enough pictures