EOW 1W MATRA 1.9 RESTORATION

[TELBOY]

I then marked where the adjusters were and drilled two holes for these. Then using fibre glass sheets at the back and filler at the front I filled all the holes and the old adjuster cut outs. This I felt would put back some of the strength in the pod.

[TELBOY]

the whole pod was then sanded down a coat of paint added to finish it off ready to fit the light

[TELBOY]

one down one to go.

[TELBOY]

Not too shabby!

[TELBOY]

Bonnet safety release cable.
When stripping EOW one of the first things I had noticed was two broken cables coming from the light lifting mechanism. In my early days I did not know what these were but after starting the rebuild and spending hours reading about Murenas I found these to be the emergency light lift cable and the mechanism to stop you from opening the bonnet when the lights were in the up positions as they do not have enough room to do so and could cause damage. Now that I am into the rebuild I am obviously repairing and replacing broken items. Now I was thinking about not bothering to replace the safety cable but then I thought it would be best to as it couldn't take that long and was designed to have one so better but one on.
Matra have conveniently put an inspection cover on the underside of the release catch and upon removal (drilling out the rusted screws) it was evident that the mechanism had rusted or frozen in place and when the lights lifted it just snapped the cable at the bottom of the cable where it meets the lifting bar. the cable is a "solid" type that enables both pushing and pulling and just goes into a simple bent strip of metal so when the lights are up it simply blocks the bonnet release mechanism. When the lights are down the cable pushes the lever out of the way so the bonnet mechanism can be operated without obstruction. The first two pictures show the relevant positions when the lights are down and the second two show the positions when the lights are up.

[suffolkpete]

My car was the same, the emergency lifting cable was missing altogether so I bought a lorry engine stop cable, I think from Car Builder Solutions and cut it down to size, I used the bit left over to re-make the heater water valve cable.  For your safety cable, get a length of piano wire, 1.2 mm should do.

[TELBOY]

Will do Pete. Thanks for advice

[TELBOY]

You may remember several pages ago I had removed the front impact strip from the bumper as this had been bolted on. Obviously the holes left were too big for rivets so I obtained some counter sunk screw headed bolts and have tig welded these to the metal strip before re-fitting

[TELBOY]

Still lots to do, ie:- bonnet, fog lights, covers, top rubber strip and trim! excuse the broom handle keeping the bonnet up!!!!

[TELBOY]

In keeping with my usual 1 step forward 2 back I am having a new screen fitted next week (£255) uero glass. Martin at uero glass put me in touch with a gent called Sel who has already been round to check out EOW. Sel who specialises in classic cars is collecting the glass which will save me £65 delivery. I have taken the opportunity to remove the screen myself to make sure I had enough time to wrap the roof ensure that all traces of sealant were removed around the screen and spray the scuttle immediately under the screen . I used Halfords etching primer and VHT wrinkle finish spray and it has come up remarkable well. The metal under the scuttle, which is not seen when the bonnet is closed, I used a black hemerite to protect from rust after cleaning with a wire brush and sanding. I obtained the screen surround from France and it does look to be correct one.

[TELBOY]

Today was new windscreen day!
The windscreen surround purchased from France IS correct and leaves about 6 inches (15cm) over. The gent who did it took about 3 hrs and took great pride in his work.

[Oetker]

Good job, and I know it takes much effort en patience to do it.
It took me a day to get it about right.
It is the caravan Herxim strip I used so not original but nobody ever noticed




Herman

[TELBOY]

Slowly does it!!!

[TELBOY]

Work in progress!

[TELBOY]

carbon fibre instrument cluster