MatraSport Forum

just purchased a murena 2.2 in england. Getting to know it slowly.Some one painted the panel below windscreen, looks terrible .Is this panel replacable,repairable or am I in serious trouble.Whatis this panel made of.Are body panels eg rear quarter panels replaceable .Regards TOG.

Hi
First welcome to this forum and congratulation with your car.

The panel in front of the windscreen is the only part of the Murena’s exterior that is NOT replaceable as it is a part of the chassis. As the chassis is hot galvanizer it is difficult to paint the surface, as the paint will have a tendency to peal off. Just clean the panel (without damaging the galvanizing) and paint it again with a paint that is suitable for galvanized materials. The panel must be black.

The front wings are fairly each to take of the Murena. The read quarter panel is bonded in and will be a major job to take off in one peace. It is however possible by making the glue soft by heating but why do you want to do it? The panels are made of some kind of fiberglass and if you have damage it is fairly easy to make a repair with the panels in place. I have done that myself on my Murena and on my wife’s Espace, it is fairly easy.

Hans

Hi Tog. Congratulations on your purchase! and welcome to the forum!

I was going to say the same as Hans, but now won't ;)

Good luck
/Anders

Congratulation with the car.
Ofcourse we like to see some pics. ;)
The panel is a kind of wrinkle paint like you see on dashboards of a MGB.
Don't have a close pic of that, but this pic is for a impression.
(http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/4092/p1000902medium.jpg)

thanks to those who replied to my question.relieved by your replies.I will post some pictures as soon as possible.I will be showing the car in Terenure Dublin:biggest Classic showin Ireland: this Sunday.I am Expecting  a good response . regards TOG

The panel below the windscreen is part of the galvanised chassis, and it should be finished with a black crackle finish paint and look like the photo Oetker posted.  The problem is that Matra forgot to prepare this for painting!  To paint on a galvanised surface you must first use an etch primer.  Then the paint will adhere otherwise (as with all the original cars) it will crack and lift off.

So clean it all off back to the galvanised surface first.  Then treat the complete area with an etch primer.  Finally paint black with a crackle finish paint, similar to those used on old British car metal dashboards.  We had done a car like this and it is now better than new!

Roy

Hi Tog,

Here is a link to the supplier. I contacted them a few months back and they have a supplier in Ireland also. 

http://www.matrasport.dk/forum/index.php/topic,1456.0.html

cheers
Derek

Consider yourself lucky that you don't have a Bagheera! It needed more than paint to rebuild this part on the one I had in 1986 - and it was only 8 years old!

hello guys I have started to clean old paint from panel below windscreen.A good amount chiped off easily I started to sand the rest but someone told me not to do so as this would damage the galvanising. Can anyone confirm if this is true or false or how should I proceed . BTW the panel appears to be in excellent condition.  Regards TOG.

Don't sand !! unless there is corrosion that needs to be cleaned off. You WILL remove the galvanizing by doing so, and the panel will be much more prone to rust in the future!
Use a chemical paint stripper, and be very careful not to damage the paint on the rest of the car.

I agree with Krede about avoiding sand blasting. It would be a pity to remove the galvanisation. You may have some rust on the face towards the wind screen and elsewhere, but since the zinc is still chemically protecting the steel, it should be enough to remove as much rust as you can with a wire brush, then paint it. With new wind screen sealant, it should not be difficult to keep it dry and corrosion free in the future.

Don't forget to prime the surface, as Roy mentioned earlier!

/Anders