Yeah, it looks really good

I've been too busy with other things but finally managed to get it to this state today. Next job is to move it down to my garage where the rest of the engine is waiting for it, and fit it with the new gasket etc. Weather is stopping me right now, unfortunately, but it should change to something warmer soon.

Wow!!!

I'm interested, Roy, for my next engine build, a complete rebuild from ground up. My long(er) term plan.

Thank you! It might be, although I'm rather busy with this now 

"Stefano" has a mass of parts . I enquired about a few and found his prices were closer to retail than enthusiast trying to pass stuff on. But he is upfront with the price and would post to the UK and Europe.

Hello all,

The Bagheera and Murena both use the same rear pads, as does the Espace I Phase 2 Quadra which has rear discs (the normal Espace I has drums at the rear).  Normally I recommend the EBC Greenstuff pads DP2189 as they have always been good and give slightly better braking, but a slightly cheaper alternative that is also a good brand would be Ferodo FDB106 (or 106A) but recently when trying to buy some of either I have found them unavailable!  I have pestered EBC and after more than ten weeks, they are still unavailable and they won't say when they will be available again.  Ferodo simply say they are no longer available!

To me and many Matra owners this is totally unacceptable.  These were fitted to many other cars not just Matra, but many Renault, Simca/Talbot, Fiat/Lancia, as well as others.  I suggest everyone goes on to the EBC website and using their contact form, on https://ebcbrakes.com/contact/ fills it in with a request to know when these will be available again, and maybe when they see the numbers of car owners needing them, just maybe they will do something.

Update: It appears the Mintex rear pads MDB1065 are available, which at least means you can obtain some decent pads.  They will not have the performance of the EBC Greenstuff, but they are much cheaper.

Genuine Brembo pads may also be available although they are not as common in the U.K. and maybe their Sport version, if they do one for our cars, might be similar to the Greenstuff, but might be more like the Redstuff or even Yellowstuff which I would not recommend for Murena road use and without similar ones at the front.  Those two are really meant for heavier cars and track use only.  I feel Brembo Sport pads are even less likely to be available in the U.K. anyway.

Latest Update: EBC say they are unable to get some of the materials needed at the moment, but hopefully the pads we need may be available in the future.

Roy

Hi Anders, this may be of interest to you.

Just a brief update Nick as there is someone else considering a Piper cam at the moment, so the possibility of getting another 5 made, might be a bit closer.  Are you still interested in one, or have you sorted your Murena with another cam or had your own cam modified?  If you have got yours running well again, I would be interested to hear about it, either by direct email to me, or if you wish to share it here, I'm sure others would be interested too.  Thanks.

One thing I should point out for anyone considering the Piper 3777 cam, is that it will require twin side-draught carbs. possibly twin 45's, as it is the most potent of the road cams made for this engine, having 8.3mm cam lift, which is much more than the 'S' cam (only 7.4mm cam lift) and that meant you needed different valve springs because with that much lift the original springs would coil bind.  Yes there were some racing engines, claimed to get around 184 horse power, but they would have been very costly and required lots of other things too, including such things as the special sodium filled valves, and they were not known for their reliability in racing either.

So if your Murena 2.2 only has the original single twin-venturi down-draught carburettor, whether the Solex 34 CICF or replaced with a Weber 34 DMTR, the cost of fitting a Piper cam will not be just the cost of the cam and valve springs, but also the twin side-draught carbs., a suitable air box, special inlet manifold, and the throttle linkage which is different, plus the setting up on a rolling road to get the carbs. correct for this cam.  And if the engine hasn't been overhauled recently, you need to think about the wear in the engine first, as you should never try to tune a worn engine.  So the real cost of fitting a Piper cam could be far more than just the price of the cam.

The first engine using the new Piper cam has been running well for a while using twin 45 carbs. but now we have another one running although this one has twin 40 side-draught carbs. and that is also going well, but it has not been set up on a rolling road yet to see what it can give once it has the optimum settings, or how it will compare with the one using the twin 45s, since it was first being run in, before putting it on a rolling road.

If you are actually rebuilding a 2.2 at present, then that could well be the time to do this sort of upgrade, but also bear in mind that many of these things like the original air box, inlet manifold and throttle linkage have not been available for a long time.

Roy

Welcome to the Matra forum.  Where about are you (country?) and what car specifically do you have?  Have you had it long?

It would appear you haven't looked at my website, (see signature below) or any of the technical articles on there, as there is one specifically on the fuel system you can download.  The sender is no longer available and hasn't been for years, but occasionally you might find a second hand one for sale.  But it is possible you can get the one in your car working, depending on how bad it is.  A photo of yours would be a start, (but make sure it is no larger than 1000 pixels wide) so we can see what it is like.  Since they are no longer available, it is always good to repair those that can be repaired.

And if you check the latest parts of Anders posting 'Getting ready for the road again', it has a bit about his fuel sender unit too.

Roy