The SANKEY Project I wasnt looking for..... 03ES07 Narrow Track

So,

I wasn't actually looking for a sankey, as i have no placeto store one, and no '+e' on my license so cant tow one (yet). I got round the storage thing by taking a fence panel out and getting it in the garden

BUT... one found me, a friend of a friend was moving house and needed his old sankey gone, he hadnt used it properly for a couple of years and the tub was badly rusted and it was missing lights but was otherwise complete. He didn't want anything for it, as long as i could collect, it even came with a spare wheel and a excellent condition canvas cover. So I roped in a mate to collect it for me.....

So here is a Narrow Track Sankey, military ERM 03ES07 which puts it at 1966 year of manufacture and into service that same year. It was demobbed from the Army in 1999 and spent all its life with the 4/5 Green Howards so probably saw action in NI, Bosnia, Cyprus, Libya, Iraq 1 and Berlin etc. It certainly has evidence of huge layers of paint in various colours.....

Not going to lie, its in a **** state, the tub is absolutely toast and will be weighed in and the tyres are shot and the electrics don't work. The chassis looks okay though, and the brakes works and all the props and mounts etc are present.

Plan is to strip and weigh in the tub, remove all components and refurb them (or bin), refurbing and painting the chassis, get some new tyres (and wolf wheels probably so its shared with the 90) and lights then when it's a rolling chassis and mechanically sound i will start on building a tub for it. Loose plan is a box section and angle frame, with steel sides and a wooden floor with a drop down tailgate and the numberplate and lights relocated to along the rear crossmember.

It also means i can buy a new welder as my old cosmo definitely isn't up to the task

This will be the build thread, but it will be slow so don't expect much.....

Ed
p.s ideally i would like a wide track but this was free......




Progress so far, tub off, its fecking heavy and the wife had to help me... Not to bad, one bit that will need cutting out and new steel letting in and the second worse bit )found so far!) will just need fertan and paint. Some parts are astoundingly clean though!


Ed

 

Nice little project.
Is the tub really that bad, surely with modifications for your required drop down flap the tub is recoverable?

J

how come you don’t have the trailer group on your license are you a youngster or late starter?

 

yeah its that bad, its been plated in all 4 corners and one arch more than once, and its rotten underneath the capping, would be more work to repair than to make new. I am not going for a 'military resto' but rather just to be a functional trailer

youngster (although i am 40), i should have passed before 1997 but spent a couple of years chasing girls regret that decision now.

Still B+E isnt a bad thing to get tbh, and i was dabbling doing it anyway....

 

Bit more done today, grabbed an hour after work.

Took off the hitch, wiring loom and some brackets etc. and removed and cleaned up the trailer data plate.



Data plate before


Data plate after the ‘special treatment’

 

If you're going to keep the original hitch make sure that the shaft which operates the brakes isn't bent normally bent because people forget the lock before reversing

 

I plan to strip it down and check that, the last thing I want is for it to bind or something!

 

From memory there's a sodding great spring in there

 

Yeah I have my fingers crossed that the 2 thread studs undo okay or else it will be cut them with a grinder with it pointing away from me

Seriously though, I will strap it up so it cant let go suddenly

 

Sankey tubs do come up for sale on their own some times, fitting one would be less work.
Or do something like this:
https://www.defender2.net/forum/post69565.html
Here is a link to a Sankey resto to keep you motivated during the slow times, shows what can be done with a bit of graft:
https://forum.emlra.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=15256

 

Yeah lots of inspiring projects out there, the EMLRA one is ace!!

 

Very similar to mine, dates from the mid 60's. I took the tub off, turned it over and mig welded 22 patches on. There should be a u shaped clamp on a chain for reversing. I replaced the axle straps using 3/16 wire cable and rope clamps. Worth welding a 1 1/4 x 1/4 bar 3" long to the underside of the hand brake, (NOT the brake actuating lever) this allows you to activate the brakes and lock on if it breaks away. There's no breakaway on a Sankey, because they are pre 19 whatever they are exempt but it a worthwhile mod. I put a tailgate in mine, looks good and makes it much more usable. I welded it to the tub like the wide track so the tub still comes off. Also got an Ivor Willaims truck top and modded it to fit, makes it sucure and usable. I also found a supply of the 12 pin sockets, may be able to get one, they are about £70 but there's not much choice. I use mine a lot, 200 miles last week, they tow wonderfully.

 

Yours looks ace!

Yeah I got the reverse collar I think my tub is to gone tbh, it needs the underneath and all round the top replacing and both wheel arches

Definitely want to work out fitting a tailgate!

 

Oh and I managed to find a pair of NOS axle check straps

 

Where? I tried everywhere!!! Link please...

 

Re welding the tub, I bought a large reel of gasless mig wire and 2 sq m of 2mm mild steel - the stell was £50 delivered. Then I just spent the best part of 2 days welding patches on. My logic was:
1 I need to get better at welding, so I need to practice - it worked, I got a lot better
2 Its scrap if i don't have a go
3 Its only a trailer, I can do a better job or look for a better tub later.

Here's a pic of the breakaway mod and the tailgate. Tailgate is about 33" wide, the top and panel is the cut out bit. Note how the hinges are welded to the tub with the pivots out and below. There's angle down the tub sides and across the bottom to stiffen it up.

 

Here you are

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Military-Sankey-Trailer-Axle-Strap-Check-Cable-9BTR/124192648274

 

The handbrake mod is excellent, cheers, I shall definitely be doing that. Definitely!

 

Right,

got the front almost stripped completely.

weather hasn’t been great so have been dismantling the draft eye in the garage tonight. All seems in order, just needs to be cleaned up and a missing rubber buffer replaced.

going to strip the rear sometime, then flip the chassis to remove the suspension and wheels etc.

Also have a lead on a narrow track tub that’s supposedly in good condition....



Not totally sure how I will get this locking pin out, it’s been there for 50 years!

 

I never got the hand brake pivot pin out. Got it all moving and settled for that. I sespect it would shift with a lot of heat.
Thanks for the link re axle straps, a pair arrived today, pity I spent 6 hours "fixing" the old ones

 

yeah I am not confident about smacking that pin out, I suspect it’s not been out for 50 years. I don’t know what I Will do about the missing rubber buffer that goes between the 2 metal washers. I may see if I can find something I can drop in hot water then gently stretch over perhaps.

I think i will just sort the missing washer and clean and reassemble. The shaft is straight and the spring not broken so hopefully it will all go back together okay! Will strip the paint, clean and re-paint and jobs a good ‘un