Getting ready for the road again

[Anders Dinsen]

Hi John

Thanks for those pointers and for reminding me about lumiweld and similar products. I haven't tried it and looks like I will need to do some experimentation first to learn the process, but it sure looks doable.

Best,
Anders

[Anders Dinsen]

A little update about starter motors.

I took my 1.6 and 2.2 starter motors apart yesterday to inspect them. Getting the pin around which the fork pivots out is the only difficult part of the job, but with a correct size punch and the starter firmly supported on the table with some cardboard peices it gave in. The 2.2 starter is a little longer than the one from the 1.6, and although the internals are identical, the axle is similarly longer on the 2.2. This should be visible in the top picture. Everything else, apart from the aluminum front part of course, is the same.

After a little polishing, the commutator on the old one were as good as new. The brushes were also in a similarly good state, but I chose to use the parts from the new 1.6-starter.

Next step is testing it on the engine, and then perhaps eventually taking it apart again to have the aluminum front frame glass blasted along with other aluminum parts.

/Anders

PS: I'm still working on emptying the tank using my electrical fuel pump. I'm doing it in steps of 5 litres as that's the size of my can, and filling it on the Espace. I regret not having bought a 20 litre can before starting.

[Anders Dinsen]

I bought a 20 l can today and emptied the tank. I have filled my 5 l spare twice (poured it on the Espace) and now the new one is more than half full. So there was more than 20 l in the tank. That surprised me. Anyway, now it's all empty.

I used the fuel pumpt to start the drailing, and then leaving the fuel to run out by itself. It's a bad idea to drain it into smaller containers as it's difficult to stop the flow so there will be fuel flowing onto the floor. Luckily it vaporizes quickly...

Getting the fuel tank out of the car was surprisingly difficult, but now it's out. I took a quick look just now, and things are not looking too bad. There are some rusty areas that will need to be dealt with, though, so I will be stripping it all down to the metal. I expect to remove the brake line running behind the tank to ensure I can give the chassis behind a proper treatment.

/Anders

[TELBOY]

so thats where the brake pipes go! When i replaced mine they were held up with cable ties. I threaded mine through the chassis but on the other side of the bulk head thats behind the tank.

[Anders Dinsen]

so thats where the brake pipes go! When i replaced mine they were held up with cable ties. I threaded mine through the chassis but on the other side of the bulk head thats behind the tank.

Yes!, the one from the limiting valve to the LH rear caliper runs behind the tank

[TELBOY]

When i replaced mine i wasnt sure and no one could tell me. The old one was just held with cable ties onto the chassis so i threaded mine through the chassis and mounted brake clips. It looks so neat that I convinced myself that was how it should be.

[Anders Dinsen]

When i replaced mine i wasnt sure and no one could tell me. The old one was just held with cable ties onto the chassis so i threaded mine through the chassis and mounted brake clips. It looks so neat that I convinced myself that was how it should be.

Sounds perfect!

[Murenanimal]

I bought a 20 l can today and emptied the tank. I have filled my 5 l spare twice (poured it on the Espace) and now the new one is more than half full. So there was more than 20 l in the tank. That surprised me. Anyway, now it's all empty.

/Anders

The tank floater can lie about the real content of the tank if it is bend and not anymore in the original curve, or if the floating piece has some liquid absorbed in the years and is not empty itself which causes it to sink deeper and giving on the fuelmeter the idea there is less fuel in the tank than in reality. (Anyway, the second situation is the case with mine.)
Guido

[roy4matra]

The tank floater can lie about the real content of the tank if it is bend and not anymore in the original curve, or if the floating piece has some liquid absorbed in the years and is not empty itself which causes it to sink deeper and giving on the fuelmeter the idea there is less fuel in the tank than in reality. (Anyway, the second situation is the case with mine.)
Guido

The original fuel tank sender and tank could never show the true amount of fuel in the tank because the top of the tank has a much wider and larger cross section than the lower part, but the sender rheostat is linear.

So the fuel will drop slowly when it is still in the larger top section than when it is in the lower narrow section.  This has all been explained in my technical article on the fuel system which has been on my website in the technical article section for some years.

I stated that if you were on a long jouney with a full tank, you might get 340 kms whilst the gauge dropped slowly for the first 'half' but then only get 200 kms during the second 'half' from half way to almost empty.  This is due to this linear sender but irregular shaped tank.

The other problem is that all the Murena I have ever come across have a sender that has the float too high at it's minimum, so it gives you a false early warning that you are almost out of fuel.  I have reset all the senders in the Murena I have owned so they are more accurate in telling you when you are almost out of fuel, and do not give that flashing low fuel warning light, much too early.  Consequently I can get as much as 550 kms safely on a full tank before I need to refill with fuel even at my fast pace, and have done so many times.  When driven at no more than legal speed limits in the U.K. and France I have actually achieved 700 kms once or twice.  This is with a 2.2 Murena with a Holbay cam and 140 bhp!

Anyway, please download my technical article (if you haven't already) on the fuel tank and system to find out more.  It might surprise you.

If you really want the fuel gauge to give you a more accurate reading all the way from full to empty, then there is an electronic device you can fit and set up so it will be accurate at full, 3/4 full, 1/2 full, 1/4 full and empty.  Contact me (at my domain email not here) if you wish to know more.

Roy

[Anders Dinsen]

Hi all, it's been a while since I posted. Sorry for that! I've completed a few items over summer and made some good progress:

• Brush cleaning of the engine room is almost done. I still have some work to do cleaning the inside of the right side bracket on top of the mounting points for the rear semi-trailing arms where a lot of road dirt has collected and I have corrosion problems (pictures later), but that's all
• Brush cleaning of the right wheel arch and surface under the wing is in progress. There is quite a bit of white ZnO build up which I'm finding difficult to remove, but I'm slowly making progress. While red rust is obviously worse in itself, it's tolerable applying the Zinga paint. Zinkoxides blocks the regalvanisation process so should be removed as much a possible.
• I removed the shocks and springs and has started cleaning and painting them.
• I removed the two brake lines in the engine room and under the wheel arches in order to gain access to certain areas. Unfortunately I coulnd't undo the nut on the RH rear brake line where it joins the brake hose so had to cut that and therefore now need to make a new one.
• The rear brake calipers have been sent to Roy who has checked and refurbished them. Roy may update here on the good state of them despite the fact that it's almost 30 years ago they were refurbished (by him) last time.
• Ordered valve seals for both cylinder heads
• Did some cleaning of my spare cylinder head
• Tested the renovated starter successfully
• Painted the fuel tank straps
• Borrowed an engine crane from my neighbor, removed the gearbox from the engine and moved the engine to my workshop

Here's a little video of the starter test: https://www.flickr.com/gp/adinsen/e3G85T

/Anders

[Anders Dinsen]

I have started the process of treating the engine room.

First step taken today was actually not the engine room itself, but the wheel arch and the face under the wing.

Inside the engine room, however, I have a problem (I mentioned that earlier):

Due to the right hand beam being further out that then left hand beam on the 2.2,there is a rather wide and large bracket on the right side top and rear of the inner mounting points for the semi-trailing arms. This bracket is open at the top, front and rear and due to the size it collects a lot of dust and water. Unfortunately it has only a small drain hole at the inside.

After 38 years of wet road dust has collected, the result is predictable: Despite the galvanized chassis, the bracket is corroding from the inside.

So far it looks like it only needs a peice cut away and a new strip welded in (see the lower picture). The inside has some surface corrosion on the other faces, but as far as I can see after cleaning out the dirt and peeking in through the holes, it looks like the corrosion should just be stopped from developing.

Obviously it's impossible to clean and regalvanize the steel inside the bracket without cutting the bracket away completely (which shouldn't be necessary) so I will apply rust converter to stop the corrosion and then I will protect it with penetrating linseed oil and a waxy surface coat.

[Anders Dinsen]

Sometimes life happens: I changed jobs, a son moved out and needed parental assitance, I changed jobs again... It's great to see that a lot of things have been happening with other peoples' Murena's while nothing has happened here with mine

I've got a little question today, though as I started fitting valve seals on the spare cylinder head I have. I haven't yet decided which one will go on the engine eventually (which is still sitting untouched in my workshop). I've built a little wooden jig as per the instructions in my Tagora engine manual, and it's working great for supporting the head while I work on it. The manual, however, doesn't contain the correct instructions for the valve seals as I'm not using the teflon based original ones, but the better Elring seals.

My question is if I've pushed the Elring seals far enough down. I'm afraid of ruining them trying to force them further down, and not sure if it matters. They wont fall off, I'm sure, but there's a little gap on the inside between the underside of the top of the seal and the top of the stem, and a similar gap between the bottom of the seal and the valve spring plate.

Edit: I have realized the seals are NOT pushed far enough down. The valve stem has only 8mm of travel before the narrow section reach the top of the seal. I'll see what I can do to push them further in.

/Anders

[tonyz59]

I just used a socket that fitted on the shoulder of the seal and a extension bar and gently tapped the seals into place 

[Anders Dinsen]

I just used a socket that fitted on the shoulder of the seal and a extension bar and gently tapped the seals into place  

Great! I found a rod that fitted and tapped them down. They're now sitting so the valves have 10 mm travel before the narrow section reaches the top of the seal

Now onto other work! Engine room, wiring, alternator

Edit: Photo added

[Anders Dinsen]

When was the last time you cleaned your fuel tank? I did yesterday, and I refitted it with the fuel tank straps I restored and painted last year. The long brake line under the tank was of course fitted first, and I threaded the battery cable and top hose from the radiator under the tank. The engine room is more or less done now in terms of cleaning and protection. I still have some cleaning and protection work to do under the trunk and on the right outside of the car, but reaching this "refitting point" is a milestone that deserved a small celebration