Hello all, I have some new information now on the Murena 1.6 rear coil springs, so the information has been added to my website FAQ section, specifically on the page about whether to keep the cars original in left hand drive form, or modify them to right hand drive. My personal preference is to keep them original and LHD, as all conversions of these great cars only makes them worse.

The new information has come from Alain Fritz who has provided me with a copy of a Peugeot Service Information update, and I thank him for providing it. As I have never seen any of these Peugeot service information updates, except for the 9 page one about the 'S' model, I wonder just how many were issued that relate to the Murena. Does anyone here know? If anyone does, I would be grateful to know and what topics they covered. Thanks.

Roy

Sorry it took me ages to reply 😅
I wish we had a Matra discord server, that would be much quicker and easier to use for me.
Aaanyway the LEDs I have are the 8.5D from this listing but I had to carve the plastic a bit to make them fit:
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_EGCJ5Hr

All LED's are dimmable, but since the current consumption is much lower than an incandecent bulb, the rheostat will normally not really dim the LED's. Do you have a link to the LED's you found?

It probably was but I never found out where it came from. (Does anyone else know where the larger rectangular header tank came from? Or what other car had it fitted?)  Matra usually bought parts that were being made for other manufacturers and cars, as that was far cheaper than having to design, and make their own, for many common items fitted to all cars, such as door handles, electric motors (wipers & windows) interior mirror, column stalk switch assemblies etc.  Even things like the radiator came from another car but with slight modification (brackets added) for the Murena.


Never rely on photos for one thing as many use a 'stock' photo in their adverts.  Unless it says that the photo is of the actual part, then treat it as possibly wrong.  And many who advertise their parts as 'will also fit...' are very often wrong simply because they regularly do not know a specific car, like ours, and just assume it will fit.  They are simply trying to make it seem like it fits lots of things to increase their sales.

Roy

Interesting mod, thanks for sharing, Roy!

Hello Romeo, if you have a Matra Murena with a 1.6 engine, then it is not a Matra 2.2!  The Matra Murena was either a Murena 1.6 or a Murena 2.2 model with different chassis, engines and gearboxes.  That number you have provided: 0B-00980216 is not the VIN nor is it a chassis number.  That is a 1.6 engine number.

As we don't know yet exactly whether you have a 1981 or 1982 Murena 1.6 model it might not have a VIN at all, and may have a Matra coded chassis number.  You (and all other owners) should be aware that the universal international VIN, standing for Vehicle Identification Number, only applies to all 1982 cars onwards.  Any cars before that, from all manufacturers, had various chassis numbers which were coded by their specific manufacturer.  Since all these different type chassis numbers contained codes that were specific to each manufacturers different ideas, it was decided it would be better if all manufacturers worked to a standard international coding, and that is how all cars from 1982 had a VIN instead of a chassis number.

Now that 0B-00980216 engine number tells us that it was made in 1981, (the 'B' is 1981) but that could have been fitted into either a 1981 or 1982 Murena, because there were still new 1981 engines around when the 1982 model year production started.  One of my 1982 Murena had a 1981 engine fitted.

So we need to know the chassis number or VIN of your car first.  If the chassis plate is missing from the top of the right hand inner wing under the bonnet, then check the right hand side of the chassis in the scuttle area where the number is stamped into the shell.  If it is a 1981 car, then the chassis number will start with 'X5551 BX 6' and have five more numbers after that.
If the Murena is a 1982 model, then it will have a VIN starting with 'VF853C392 CX 6' and five more numbers after that.

These two differently coded numbers show you why the international VIN was brought into use.  The Matra chassis number 'X5551 BX 6.....' only tells you it is a 1.6 Murena built in 1981 - provided you know how the coding was designed.  However, the VIN tells you the country where it was made and by which manufacturer as well as its model and age.  The 'VF' is Vehicle France and the number '8' immediately after it is tells you it came from Matra Automobiles SA, whilst the '53C' is the Talbot coding for a Murena and the 'C392' tells you it is a 1.6 model.  The next letter is the year code and a 'C' means 1982.  So you can see much more information from a VIN code.

All this and more has been on my website for many years.


The year of manufacture of your engine is 1981 as indicated by the 'B' in the engine number.

The power output of the engine was 89.4 PS horse power.  See my website for the explanation of the true power outputs of the Murena engines, as the marketing information was incorrect.

Roy

The letter B means year model 1981, means manufactured between june 1980 to may 1981.

Hello all, I have today (5th Sept. '24) uploaded a new technical article to my website. The idea, design and material for this article was provided by Geoff Keep, a long time Murena owner and friend. It details how to make and fit a protection grill to the Murena to help prevent damage to your rare and expensive radiator matrix from stones etc. Something that was sadly missing from the original car. I have also uploaded an updated cooling system article with a little extra piece about a possible modification to hold the radiator cowling bottom support bracket, to prevent it falling off when corrosion causes it to become loose.

Roy

What do they look like?

I put white dimmable leds in mine. They do work with the dimmer but maybe because I only did the ones in the dial cluster? Maybe there's even a mix of leds and the original ones. The white does look different and less authentic but for me it's already a plus that it works.