A seven-tonne World War II-era navy gun shield dumped at a tip on the Mornington Peninsula has been refurbished and will go on display in Perth.

The shield is one of two that sat unmoved since the Mt Eliza tip was turned into parkland more than 30 years ago.

The Australian Army and private defence contractors donated their services towards the refurbishment of the shield.

Defence force personnel move an antique naval gun shield from the Mt Eliza park where it has sat for more than 30 years. ( Supplied: Murray Adams )

It will be transported more than 3,000 kilometres to the Leighton Battery Heritage Site, north of Fremantle, where it will be fitted to a gun barrel from HMAS Sydney (1).

Peter Anning from defence contractors BAE Systems said they had attempted to bring the gun shield back to its original condition.

"It's been out in the elements for quite some time," Mr Anning said.

The Australian Army transported the shield to the Williamstown shipyards, where Mr Anning and his team removed some metalwork before sending it to fellow defence contractors Eptec for blasting and painting.

Originally from the HMAS Adelaide (1), the shields were dumped at the Moorooduc reserve at Mt Eliza after a refit of the ship in 1943.

The Royal Australian Artillery Historical Society of Western Australia holds a MKXI gun barrel from HMAS Sydney (1), and had been searching for more than 20 years for a matching shield.

When fitted the gun barrel and shield will look similar to this gun on display at the HMAS Cerberus base in Victoria ( Supplied: Commander Cameron Eastman )

The society's Don Rae said a colleague spotted the shields while riding his bicycle through the Moorooduc reserve.

The society wrote to the Mornington Peninsula Shire, who contacted the Royal Australian Navy, to determine who actually owned the shields.

"[The navy] said that they had no further claim on them," said Mr Rae.

Mr Rae said the process of establishing ownership of the shield "took naturally quite a bit of time", however all the organisations involved had done their best to help the project.

"It's been painless, there has not been any real frustration," he said.

The shield will be shrink-wrapped before leaving for Western Australia on Friday.