Just Joined

[Tuandoc]

I've recently bought a very nice Bulldog and we have done 2,000 miles to Northern Italy and back; hood down all the way except one day when the sun was too hot! But the springs are very tired and need to be replaced (only an inch of clearance to the stops at the front and bottoming out on potholes and motorway expansion joints).  Keith has given me a good website (carparts-direct) which will do Cortina springs but the original Constuction Manual says that the Cortina springs are too strong and recommend 100 lb replacements, which Pilgrim could supply at that time. Any advice on replacement units would be much appreciated.
John

[istreatf]

Hi John and welcome to the forum and also to the Bulldog world.
Although I am a Marina Bulldog specialist, which is why I have not answered your question earlier as I would normally leave that to other Cortina based Bulldog owners, I will give you my tuppence worth anyway.
There are a number of specialist spring makers still around, and they will be able to make up any springs you would care to imagine. I don't have any experience in springs, so I would suggest going through the adverts in the classic car press, sellers on eBay (I have noted recently one company advertising new Marina rear springs which they make themselves), and maybe having a word with Den Tanner to see if he can give you a lead. Unfortunately as I said my expertise is in Marina based cars and given the same problem I would be looking for broken leaves, broken or missing bump stops, ill conceived fitting of lowering blocks (should be obvious if they are there) or simply overloading?
Hope this helps.

[Robin]

Just a thought but on my Ford based Bulldog I have adjustable dampers. If you have the same they are not set too soft are they?

Regards

Robin

[Tuandoc]

Thank you both for your advices.  I have managed to find a firm to make new springs, "Saturnworks" and another as well and am going to place orders soon. The Construction Manual recommends 100 lbs/in front and 170 rear but I am going to put 100s all round. Empty weight (except almost full fuel tank) is 420 kg front and 400 kg rear.  I suppose a saloon car has to allow for two adults in the back plus luggage in the boot but that won't apply to my Bulldog!  The shocks are said to be quite new so I shall wait and see the results with the new springs in due course.
Regars, John

[istreatf]

Excellent news - it's nice to see axle weights for the car as well, which are the same as the axle weights of my Hawthorn when it was SVA tested a few years ago. Time will tell of course with your decision but it sounds about right. 50/50 weight distribution eh? Perfect or what? Something I have always wanted to check is the individual weights of all four wheels........ my nearside front always locks up first!

[Kevin E]

Hello John,

Are your new springs going to be the same length as the original Cortina Springs?
I'm needing new springs for my Mk 4 so I'll be particularly interested to find out how well your new springs work.

Regards,

Kevin

[Tuandoc]

Hi Kevin,

Well we do not really know the length of the Cortina springs as the existing ones are too tired!  We are going to jack up the chassis and let the springs stretch and thence make an estimate. I'll keep you informed in due course;  we have not ordered yet, and fitting is going to be interesting.

regards,  John

[pccthebreed]

Glad to hear you are getting those springs sorted John. I guess carrying my weight around for five years or so must have been more telling on them than I thought.