LP2 SAR Hull No 316 Restoration.

[Matt Stephenson]

Hello everyone,

First of all I need to introduce myself, my name is Matt Stephenson, I'm a police officer from the Albury-Wodonga area and the proud owner of LP2 South Australian Railways Hull number 316, built in 1941.

I purchased the hull in a fairly badly cut down state from a mechanic, who in turn had bought it from a farmer who had it on his farm since the Army disposed of it way back when..... As with most carriers it was used, abused and modified, at some point having a dozer blade attached to the front. It also became a valuable source of flat steel the farmer could easily access with an oxy torch whenever the need arose. Now its up to me to try and put it back to how it should be.

I've been fortunate enough that I've grown up around vintage and veteran vehicles and have some experience with the restoration process, just not with a military vehicle though. I'm by no means an expert, and will never claim to be, so please forgive if from time to time my questions sound silly, or the answer is obvious.

To date, I've begun the process of restoring the old girl to her former glory, and the long task of chasing down missing parts, equipment and bits and pieces to do it right. Prior to being accepted onto the forum, I have viewed the restoration of Darrin Wright's carrier in awe. He certainly sets a very high standard that I can only hope to emulate and achieve with mine.

Anyway, attached are a few pics of my carrier as I bought it. I will post more pics of the restoration as it proceeds. Thanks for having me on your forum.

Matt.

[Ryan]

Hi Matt welcome to MLU.


No such thing as a silly question. Ask away, ask again and again. You'll get help here.

If there was such a thing as a silly question I would have been banned here a long time ago.

[Lynn Eades]

Hi Matt, and welcome! You are in the right place.
The really silly questions are like the really hard ones. People just don't answer.
Sometimes even the easy ones don't get an answer because life gets in the way.
I guess that means you just ask anyhow.

[Keith Webb]

Hi Matt, good to see your first post! I realised as I added your carrier to the database I should not have added the 'A' to 'LP2' when I created your signature on registration, so feel free to correct that.
I'm sure you'll enjoy and be enriched by your experience here on MLU.

[Matt Stephenson]

Hello everyone,

First of all, thank you for the welcome to the forum and community here, and for the interest shown in my project. I have some updates and a little progress made with the restoration.

I've learn't that the Bandiana barracks located in Wodonga was a centre for disposing of surplus materiel after the war....including bren gun carriers. Given the situation after the war, it came as not much of a surprise to learn that much of this surplus equipment found its way onto farms, supplementing or replacing farm machinery and equipment used by farmers, as was the case with my hull. Well, recently I've been fortunate enough to come across another hull that was on a farm - see attached pics.

This hull was also cut up and abused by the farmer, who also at some point needed and a ford engine and gearbox, and chose to obtain these from the hull of the carrier by simply cutting the floor of the hull, and lifting the bit he didn't want (the hull) away. Fortunately for me, much of the front upper armour plate was still in situ. I've bought the entire hull (what's left of it), and it will become a parts donor for my hull, replacing what has been cut away. Its been moved to a mate's property where I intend to cut away the bits I need....

Unfortunately, no builder's plate or stamp to identify the hull or manufacturer.

Matt

[Keith Webb]

Another good find Matt! The Hull number and manufacturer was also stamped in to the angle iron piece at the inside rear just above the diff, looks like that piece is still in place.