Newbie from Belgium

[Ayala]

Hallo

i am new here on the Forum.
Living in Belgium, and owner from a Pilgrim Bulldog.
i dont have nice pic, but ASAP i will make other and then i will post them here.
Sorry but my Englisch is bad, but i hope you will unterstand my posts.
If the pics are ok, can someone tell me witch pilgrim this is?

MK?
above the doors there is a small part of the body who not opens,
The Mechanic is from a Ford Taunus( bj 1972)
but the body is a smaller type, so the front wheels are not covered by the body.
the wheels are 13 inch x5.5 inch  ET 19 Mangels
the wheels are about 4 cm outer the body( so body is to small)

[istreatf]

Hi Ayala,
Welcome to the Forum!
As far as your Bulldog goes, the doors and shape of the dashboard, plus you saying the body is so small, says that the body is a Mk2 without any doubt whatsoever. This is the first left hand drive Mk2 that I can recall. Also your suspension looks like the Morris Marina suspension with a coilover conversion, but it is difficult to see from the pictures - is it off the Taunus as well? I doubt it if you have 13 inch wheels. What rear axle do you have? I expect it is the Morris Marina axle with leaf springs. The Mk 2 Bulldog was never produced with the Ford Taunus engine option, so it might have been built as a one-off by one of Pilgrim's agents in Holland back in the late 1980's, or maybe by the Pilgrim factory themselves, as Den Tanner liked to dabble in the Dutch market back then. So you could say that you have a Mk2 and a half, as the Mk2 was developed and widened to take the Ford components and called the Mk3.
Your English is easy to understand and much better than my Dutch!
Hope this helps - look forward to seeing more pictures as the car looks in very good shape for it's age.
   

[Ayala]

Hallo

the donorcar is a Ford Taunus (1972), so the front and rear axle is Ford.
Engine is a 1600cc Ford OHC( pinto) and 4 gearbox.
I have overhauled the Brakes, also the master brake cylinder.

I buy-ed the calipers, brake cylinders, brake shoes via Ebay in great Brittany.
Masterbrake cylinder from Germany.

Small problems:The speedo don't works.
The speedo cable is ok, counter is also ok, but i cant see the speed.

Its a  "" Ford Capri "" dashboard in the Pilgrim, but  i have a spare dash so i can replace the speedo, and all the other dials if needed.                       

The wheels are 13 inch Mangels, but i believe i need 14 or 15 inch .( i have seen in a old pilgrim manual)
I will try first 14 inch from Ford Sierra, after that i try to find alloy wheels  14 inch.

the only problem is that the hood is not in good shape.
I need to replace these.

Greets
Guy

 

[istreatf]

Hi again Guy,
You seem to have everything well in hand on the restoration of your Bulldog.
I can only imagine that your car was a prototype for the Mk3 Bulldog, as the Ford Taunus was known as the Ford Cortina in the UK, which was what the Mk3 Bulldog was based on. I also suspect that the car was either built in the UK by Pilgrim or by an agent in Holland, and altered to suit the Ford running hear.
As far as your hood goes, the original supplier for Pilgrim for the hoods Polyfacto ltd and their website is http://www.polyfacto.co.uk/  Although they have been taken over their website does state that they have taken over all patterns, so with any luck you should be able to contact them and buy a new hood. Please note that sidescreens are usually sold seperately so you should enquire about them as well if you need them.
Your speedometer problem should be sorted out by the usual mechanical diagnostics relevant to your donor car.
As far as the wheels go - I am not a Ford expert so I will leave that up to you!
Ian

[Ayala]

Hallo

You can find More pics of my Pilgrim Bulldog here.

http://ayala.guytoelen.be/#home

[pccthebreed]

Hi,
My guess is that it's late MKIII just before the MKIV came out which was Cortina based. I have never seen a MKIII with  Ford running gear before although I did read of one somewhere. My MKIV is on Cortina running gear and has 13inch wheels (185 sr 13) and the speedo reading is spot on . With regard to the speedo not working it is possible that the cable is not located in the drive properly quite  a common thing after a gearbox has been refitted. Best way to check is disconnect the cable at the dashboard end , jack up the rear end of the car and then drive it while watching the end of the speedo cable. If it does not turn it indicates that the cable is either not connected properly or their is a problem with the drive. If it does turn OK then the problem may be the speedo head but once again check that the end of the cable is not rounded and make sure it was located properly.

[istreatf]

It just cannot be a MK3 as the doors and dash are definately Mk2. The Mk3 had the flat dash and was the first with the larger doors and wider bodywork.

[Ayala]

Hi

Problem with the speedo is that the counter works (started to drive on 47100 Km  and now 47320 Km) , but the needle of the speedometer don't move for 1 mm.

So i think the problem is not the cable.

I have a spare speedo (With Miles and Km) and the needle is working with  Magnetic fields).
Problem is the limited space behind the dashboard.
The only possibility to change the speedo is moving the whole dashboard and then there is space to do this  work.
I have made some pics of the spare speedo and Complete Capri dials.

About the Donorcar: Ford Taunus  and Ford Cortina are identical, just the name i think.
Greets

Guy

[pccthebreed]

Hi Ian,
The return at the ends of the dash look different to any I have seen although it may just be the way they are "dressed"but the width of the running boards are definitely MKII and so is the bonnet ( hey what am I doing trying to teach my granny to suck eggs). Then again if we came across one in a few years time fitted with a Zetec and giving up 260 BHP we'd be saying that that model didn't exist and I know that it does. That's Kit Cars.

[istreatf]

Precisely. I have lost track of all the conversations I have had with Den over the years with him telling me about this car development and that donor etc etc, but I do recall him getting in to the Dutch market in some way. Den selling a Mk2 chassis and body to an agent and letting him do the development work to use a Ford donor sounds about right. Yes that Zetec jobby certainly looks factory built and will confuse some people in the future! Even the steering modification is a pro job - probably using a tried and tested solution from another donor.

[Ayrbulldog]

Hi Ayala,
I have been in contact with Monsoon, who have taken over Polyfacto please see attached for details.
http://www.polyfacto.co.uk/static/Image/mgb.JPG

Price of hood and side screen approx £300.00, you will have to send your side screens to them and let them know which model of bulldog you have.
May be worth e- mailing Den Tanner @ Pilgrim cars to identify your car.
Good Luck
Clive

[Ayala]

Hi

this weekend, i will try to make some better pics of the Pilgrim.
Lets hope that the weather will cooperate.
No rain or snow, like today.

But asap i will sent pics to Mister Den Tanner.
so i will know the exact type of Pilgrim this is.

Thx for the message

Guy

[pccthebreed]

Hi Guy,
A picture of the front end of the bonnet would useful and maybe a clear picture of the front suspension might help. I think it is a modified MKII or even a "prototype" MKIII. Somewhere I have pictures of all the Bulldog fornt ends so I will see if I can find them and post them for you.
Keith

[istreatf]

The bodyshell is definately Mk2 - look at the doors - and I guess that the chassis is a Mk 2 as well, but modified to take the Ford running gear by the Dutch agent/builder. It could be a prototype chassis though - who knows? This makes it a prototype Marque 3 then, or a Mk2 1/2.

[Ayala]

Hallo

so i have made some pic of the pilgrim.
i like to sent them to M Den tanner

can someone give me the exact email adres?

thx
Guy