My Murena 2.2

[edd9000]

This is our Murena 2.2. We picked it up in Germany, in around 97, but I'm a bit hazy on that. Dad got it up and running and on the road and we went to a club meeting or two and visited the stand at the NEC. It was eventually taken off road in 2000-01 when it needed a brake repair which was done, then Dad emigrated to Florida, I followed and spend 5 years over there before coming back 18 months ago.

Since the car is just sitting waiting, I figured I may as well try and get it on the road again. It is a bit tired, the paint has failed, but its nothing some TLC wont fix.

Edd.

[klumzer]

Welcome to the forum and good luck with the car!

[suffolkpete]

It looks quite tidy inside, if a little weathered outside.  Suggest you join the Matra Enthusiasts' Club www.matra-club.net and you will have plenty of help and advice freely given.  Come to some of the meetings and have a look at other cars.

[edd9000]

It's worse than it looks in the photos, the paint has bubbled all over revealing the fibreglass underneath. Any other car of course would have disintegrated into iron oxide dust by now so I'm not to worried. Whatever madness possessed my Dad to want a Murena is obviously hereditary, I just look forward to owning/driving this unique car on the road again.

The interior is ok, the steering wheel and gear knob are melting, and the cloth on the seats is rather fragile.

We had it started today, drove it round the drive way a few times, I need to make sure but it seems the full brake service Dad did last time has prevented any seizing.

I look forward to re-joining the club and getting to any meetings.

[Jon Weywadt]

It's worse than it looks in the photos, the paint has bubbled all over revealing the fibreglass underneath. Any other car of course would have disintegrated into iron oxide dust by now so I'm not to worried. Whatever madness possessed my Dad to want a Murena is obviously hereditary, I just look forward to owning/driving this unique car on the road again.

The interior is ok, the steering wheel and gear knob are melting, and the cloth on the seats is rather fragile.

We had it started today, drove it round the drive way a few times, I need to make sure but it seems the full brake service Dad did last time has prevented any seizing.

I look forward to re-joining the club and getting to any meetings.

It sounds like the fiber glass was not properly primed before the car was painted.
You have to prime with a water tight epoxy primer before applying the paint. Moisture that penetrates the finer glass from behind will make the pint bubble up.

[edd9000]

It sounds like the fiber glass was not properly primed before the car was painted.
You have to prime with a water tight epoxy primer before applying the paint. Moisture that penetrates the finer glass from behind will make the pint bubble up.

I'd imagine it's had a respray before we got it, there is some evidence of overspray here and there.

I bled the coolant today, the temperature gauge doesn't seem to be working so I checked at the thermostat housing with an IR temperature gun, held around 80 degrees at idle. Not sure the fan works so that's on the list to check.

The oil pressure gauge doesn't work either. Other than that it seems functional, I may even attempt the MOT soon.

[edd9000]

Successful day of tinkering yesterday. I'd previously found the temperature gauge wire was disconnected so that now works.

I found the Oil pressure gauge wire had broken at the connector so a new connector was put on, I had to remove the air filter to reach the sender but now the oil pressure gauge works.

I replaced the Cam cover vent tubing and stripped and cleaned the little green filter which was pretty gummed up.

The passenger window wasn't working so after verifying the power and switch, I stripped the motor to find the bushings had frozen to the shaft, lots of wd40 later and some heat I now have a working passenger window.

I've also started cleaning up the wheels, removing the old paint with wire brushes and spraying them silver. I will probably have them fully refurbished at a later date but they will do for now.

Next issue I have spotted is the dashboard doesn't light up.

[Jon Weywadt]

--------------
Next issue I have spotted is the dashboard doesn't light up.

Nice job
You might find this thread about the instrument panel interesting:
http://www.matrasport.dk/forum/index.php/topic,1504.0.html

[edd9000]

Thanks for the link, good to have an idea of what to look for. I might have a look tomorrow, right now all I think I need are some front tyres and I can put it in for the MOT.

[Oetker]

a bit late but welcome.
Was the car outside all those years?

If gauges do not work I found that the connector under the screenwaterbottle has corrosion.
Best is to clean all connectors and check the fusepanel print.
It's causes  many electrical problems.
Succes bringing the car back to life.

Herman

[edd9000]

It went through the MOT today, no advisories so it is now road legal. Went on an hours drive to pick up a new middle seat belt for the car, Seemingly no problems.

Except the fuel gauge doesn't work. 

[GP]

It went through the MOT today, no advisories so it is now road legal. Went on an hours drive to pick up a new middle seat belt for the car, Seemingly no problems.

Except the fuel gauge doesn't work. 

Well done, that is good news.

The fuel gauge problem may be the cantilevered float sender unit inside the tank stuck in the empty position, if it has been standing with an empty tank for a long time. If not it is still the best place to start (other than the fuse board).

To remove the sender unplug the connector on the tank and rig up a tool to unscrew the large plastic
cover. Even if the sender is O.K. this would be a good opportunity to siphon/clean out all the *rap you will probably find inside the tank.

[edd9000]

Thanks for the tip, I popped out the float and found while it moved freely, all the copper contacts had corroded and the warning light wire broken off. I cleaned it all off and re-soldered the wire and now it works.

I cleaned the connector under the water bottle and now I have dash lights.

I was feeling brave so took the car out today on a run I had planned to do anyway, 100 miles later no problems at all.

I need to change the boots on the steering rack, and I'm planning to replace all of the ignition components like the plug wires and cap. Its working but the rubber is failing on a lot of it.

[edd9000]

The gaiter and surround on the car were nasty, cracked and falling apart. I rebuilt the surround and sprayed it with a textured paint, and made a new gaiter on my wife's sewing machine. Considering I haven't touched a sewing machine since forced to in school, It came out ok.

The gear knob is rather squishy, but it will stay for now until I decide what to replace it with.

[roy4matra]

a bit late but welcome.
Was the car outside all those years?

If gauges do not work I found that the connector under the screenwaterbottle has corrosion.

Corrosion on the large red wire in the yellow connector under the windscreen washer bottle (CC2) is common, BUT the only thing that wire feeds is the heated rear window relay (Zb) in the engine compartment, with power for the rear glass when the relay is switched on by the switch on the dash.  That red wire is a live wire which is why it always corrodes as there is always potential there.  As an auto electrician I have to say that I am surprised that Matra even fed the relay at the rear all the way from the front circuit board in the first place, especially as manufacturers love to save money wherever they can.  The obvious place to feed that relay with live power was from the alternator which is very close in the engine compartment.  This is one of my wiring improvements - dispense with the large red wire from the front and instead take a feed from the alternator to the relay AND change the relay to one with a built-in fuse (since it is no longer coming from the fuse board).

Whilst talking of improvements, do you realise that the heater fan switch is fed from an unfused supply?  This is why the wires often melt and the switch deteriorates when the heater fan motor starts using excess current.  It should blow a fuse but this supply was never fused! (big mistake by Matra when they designed the circuit).  Why does the fan motor start drawing excess current - usually because the bearings are getting tight from corrosion or lack of use when cars have been unused for years.  The answer of course is to fit an in-line fuse in the supply to the switch.

If the gauges on the dash are not working properly, the most likely causes are the circuit board edge connector terminals or the board itself, or the circuit membrane and connections at the back of the panel itself.

Roy