Centre Headrest

[murramor]

Hi All

I am just starting the restoration of my 1.6.  I have owned it for 10 years but I have to wait until it is 30 years old to drive it as a LHD in our part of Australia so I have done little with it until now.

I am having trouble removing the centre headrest to give to the trimmer (the cover has a Velcro join and is removable but the trimmer would prefer the headrest to work with.  I have removed the obvious bolt but the metal fixing won't budge.  I am afraid to force anything without consulting the collective wisdom of the group.

Many thanks.

[Matra_Hans]

Hi
We were facing the same problem with the Murena which we broke up for parts two weeks ago.
The solution was: remove two bolts at the lower parts of the fixture, force  the fixture up (I used a small hammer) and off it goes!

Regards Hans

PS Nice to know that you are also having Murenas "down under"

[Anders Dinsen]

Hi and welcome to our first member from "down under"

...I think???, but welcome anyway! I'd like to hear more about your car! Murena is rare here in Denmark, but must be rarer in your country. I was driving home with my family on the highway south of Copenhagen today, and we needed to make a stop, so we left the motorway. Found a parking lot to U-turn... and "what's that... Murena-rims??". There, in a driveway, under a cover, sat a Murena with Devil exhaust. Only one of the outlet pipes and a bit of the left hand rear rim was visible, but there's no doubt at all

I was there with Hans when we removed the headrest, and he's quite right about the procedure

- Anders

[murramor]

Hi and welcome to our first member from "down under"

...I think???, but welcome anyway! I'd like to hear more about your car! Murena is rare here in Denmark, but must be rarer in your country.
- Anders

I know of 2 Murenas in Sydney - mine and a 2.2 of John Brown.  There were 3 Bagheeras here but mine was destroyed when a bushfire swept through our area about 7 years ago.  Heartbreaking because I had just finished getting it really nice.  John Brown's series 1 Bagheera is the only one mobile at the moment and he regularly displays it at the annual French car day.  Rust isn't much of a problem here so it is Bagheera heaven!

My Murena came from England and has quite a bit of rust underneath in spite of the galvanising.   Nothing compared to a Bagheera though!  ( I have attached pictures - I hope I have done it properly)!

Anyway John Brown and I are both seeing who can be first to display a Murena at next year's French car day.  He has a big head start on me and his car is very clean now but he has a lot of work to finish the conversion to right hand drive.  I will be leaving mine LHD as mentioned.

I think I will be making great use of this forum over the next couple of years.  I will be in Holland and England in late September and early October so I will go to Carjoy and also see Will Falconer who has been very helpful over the years.  I will also be able to attend the MEC meeting on 5 October.

[Anders Dinsen]

Hi Ron

I'm a bit shocked about the rust you have. I have never seen anything like that on a Murena. Of course it can be repaired, but it's just not normal. I wonder where it has lived to be attacked like this?

My car has been living on the streeet in London (not in garage) most of its life, and the only rust I have been able to spot on the galvanised chassis parts is in front of the wind screen, where moisture had been allowed to build up due to bad sealing. But nothing apart from that.

I do understand why you want to leave the car LHD as the conversion is not easy as far as I understand. Not only the dash will have to be recreated, but you will also have fitting problems with the seats and the location of the gear stick etc. But "thumbs up" to John Brown's plan - it will be magnificent to have a true Murena actaully on the road in Sydney.

Best wishes,
Anders

[murramor]

I'm a bit shocked about the rust you have. I have never seen anything like that on a Murena. Of course it can be repaired, but it's just not normal. I wonder where it has lived to be attacked like this?

I think the car lived somewhere in the Midlands / North of England.  It was a daily driver and obviously worked quite hard.  It had a towbar on it and it has done 195,000 km.  When it was delivered to my place the right rear spring platform collapsed from rust - obviously something for other owners to bear in mind.

 it will be magnificent to have a true Murena actaully on the road in Sydney.

Within 3 years there will be 2 good Murenas around Sydney (John and I are both perfectionists and have the time to spend as we are both retired).  Once they are done they should last a long time in this climate.

[Waldo]

 
A "normal" rough life in the UK shouldn't result in that kind of corrosion... I'm sure it must have been a "monday model"...
Or maybe the former owner did a great job scrapping the zink layer of the chassis 

I'm a bit shocked about the rust you have. I have never seen anything like that on a Murena. Of course it can be repaired, but it's just not normal. I wonder where it has lived to be attacked like this?

I think the car lived somewhere in the Midlands / North of England.  It was a daily driver and obviously worked quite hard.  It had a towbar on it and it has done 195,000 km.  When it was delivered to my place the right rear spring platform collapsed from rust - obviously something for other owners to bear in mind.

 it will be magnificent to have a true Murena actaully on the road in Sydney.

Within 3 years there will be 2 good Murenas around Sydney (John and I are both perfectionists and have the time to spend as we are both retired).  Once they are done they should last a long time in this climate.

[krede]

I have never seen a Murena in that bad shape either..... looks almost like a Bagheera!

[murramor]

Having owned a Bagheera,  I know what you mean! 

Despite the relatively poor condition of the chassis and general signs of having worked hard, the car somehow seems quite solid and well built.  Everything works and the doors fit well.  The interior was very grubby but with a re-trim of the seats and the cloth panels it will look good without much else needing to be done inside.  The original paintwork polishes up well and the fibreglass is so much better than that on my 1970 Lotus Europa that there is no comparison.  I loved my Bagheera but the Murena is potentially so much better that I am really enjoying bringing it back from the dead.  Of course, if I lived in Europe, I would probably select a better base to work from but then another Murena world be probably lost to the world!