What to do with a new Murena

[Andrew]

I have just bought a Matra Murena 2.2.  Its in reasonable condition.  It has a very innovative solution to strengthen the sills/chassis rails involving bolt on sections.

In an event I love the shape of the car, hate the engine. Its stinks of oil, weeps oil and its on carbs which seem to go out of tune daily.  I would really like to swap over to another engine and gearbox.  Preferably something powerful with fuel injection.

I know people with 1.6's go for Peugeot 1.9 engines but these are quite rare now as the 205 GTI becomes more of a classic and I am not sure they fit the 2.2.  I know people swap to Alfa engines but as a former Alfa enthusiast I cannot bear the idea of all the maintenence a 3 litre V6 alfa engine needs.

I am therefore thinking a Honda or Toyota 2 litre 4 cylinder or even a Opel/Vauxhall XE series, Rover K series or Ford Zetec or Duratec.  Has anyone looked to see if one of these would fit in or not, incuding stuff like matching up driveshafts, can mountings be fabricated, do the gearbox linkages work and can the clutch be converted.

Thanks

Andrew

[Anders Dinsen]

I would never replace the 2.2, only maintain it.

If you hate the idea of carburettors, fit a fuel injection system. If you have the dual carburettors, there are throtthe bodies that will fit directly, and ECU's that will do it too. The engine is very durable as long as it's kept as cold as it should, and can be tuned to immense power levels.

If I was going for any of the mentioned engines I'd find myself an Opel Speedster or Lotus Elise. The Ford's could go in a Super Seven

What are the bolt-on sections you are mentioning? The Murena chassis is very stiff in itself so unless you are racing it (where you will need a roll cage) I don't see why it would need strengthening.

[Will Falconer]

205 Gti's may be rare but the XU9 engine is common to the Peugeot 405 , 309 and  Citroen BX Gti  which is probably the cheapest donor option.  But you are right, all the 1.9 conversions I'm aware of have been done to 1.6's partly because the 2.2 is a great torquey engine and quite different to drive to a 1.9.

It sounds like your engine needs a rebuild and perhpas a trouble-free single Weber carb conversion rather than the very expensive route of changing drive-trains.

The Murena chassis is quite heavy but extremely rigid, so it certainly doesn't need strengthening. Sounds like someone's been up to no good with your chassis!

[krede]

The opel xe engines are utterly outstanding units. when they came about they had all the technical goodeis one could desire.. fuel injection, forged pistons (yep you read it right.. they came with forged pistons as standard) knock sensor etc ect...
I thought of fitting one myself...
However...
The gearbox is in the "wrong" end of the engine when compaired to the french or japaneese units...
That means that you will either have to do some major modifications to mount the gearbox in the opposit side of your murena... or you will have to fit the xe engine with the exaust facing front, towards the cabin... RIGHT UP AGAINST THE FUELTANK!!!...

[Anders Dinsen]

The gearbox is in the "wrong" end of the engine when compaired to the french or japaneese units...

They must have fixed this when they did the Speedster - or is the 2.2 a completely different engine?

RIGHT UP AGAINST THE FUELTANK!!!...

which would really add a totally new dimension to driving a Murena

[Artur]

is the 2.2 a completely different engine?

as former Opel enthusiast I can say that 2,2 is version of 2,0 x20xev ecotec,
which comes from 2,0 c20xe.
if you are looking for this kind of swap, find yourself a c20let turbo version of the same engine!
it will be insane

[Anders Dinsen]

is the 2.2 a completely different engine?

as former Opel enthusiast I can say that 2,2 is version of 2,0 x20xev ecotec,
which comes from 2,0 c20xe.
if you are looking for this kind of swap, find yourself a c20let turbo version of the same engine!
it will be insane

I would never swap my Murena engine... I'm just curious what is found in the Speedster as that is another fine midengined car. No, my Murena 2.2 engine with Holbay cam and S-ignition is just perfect.

[Andrew]

The chassis has a little bit or rot in the sill / rail.  Rather than welding it, the previous owner has made sure the rot will not spread and  bolted in overlapping L section heavy gauge steel rods.  The previous owner is a mechanical engineer and pretty bright.  The repair seems to work as the car can be lifted right up at any point on its sills without any distortion, creaking or groaning from the car.  That said I am in half a mind to take it off and just weld the sill.  But what has been done is, I have to say, pretty clever.

As far as motors go it may just be very tired and needs an overhaul.  I am blessed with working 3 streets from Sportscars Unlimited and provided they are still there, I may ask them what they think.

[Anders Dinsen]

Well it sounds like a good repair has been done to the chassis, which you can fix up completely or just leave as it is and attend to more important matters.

I think you should consider taking the engine out and stripping it to see how it looks. They do have their weak spots, so that can be checked throughly. Unless it has severe wear on the engine block or has overheated and cracked the head, it will generally be fine once rebuilt.

Good luck with Sportscars, let us know what you find out!

[macaroni]

Sportscars Unlimited are still there as I spoke to them a few weeks ago. They seem to have plenty of spares for Murenas stilll, so don't take them all!

They fitted the 4-1 manifold/Holbay cam and twin dellortos to my car.