Dan's 1.6 repairs

[Grapes]

Nope it isn't but when I inspected the lenses when I gotten back to the garage I noticed the lenses where perfect so I shelved the kit for later use on our family car where the headlamps do seem to have gotten a bit hazy. I already had my suspicions since it's pop-up lamps which don't normally see a lot of UV time to damage the lenses but I was in hte supply shop and since I figured I could always use it for another car I decided just to get it to save me an extra trip.
I think I'll just replace the bulbs and try and clean the reflectors.
I read I can stuff pieces of paper towel through the bulb hole and then let them twirl around with the compressor to remove any dust build-up. If that doesn't work I'll have them explain me what they feel isn't right about it and see if they can give me some suggestions.

[Grapes]

So I rang the garage yesterday and after some explaining from my side they checked with the mechanic who did the check who said he changed the bulbs but didn't check if that solved the issue. 🤦‍♂️
Anyway I don't see anything wrong with the lenses. The reflectors are also largely okay. Going to bring it back to the garage again after the weekend fingers crossed 🤞

[Grapes]

Aaand I'm back on the road! Replaced the brake booster after all with a trade in one from Simon Auto. Super fast delivery, much faster than the few gaskets I ordered at Carjoy a while ago even though Simon's across the border for me and Carjoy is local so I think I found my new default parts supplier

Not sure what to tackle next to be honest. At least there's no more leaking and during the current temperatures it also starts without need for the choke. Probably will do a compression test soon to see how bad the block is. For me it feels powerful enough but I'm kind of a slow cruiser these days and I assume it's better to get things in shape to prevent larger issues in the future.

[tonyz59]

Well done, there will be other things that go wrong don't worry  so you will be increasing your mechanical skills, i have no doubt !!

[Anders Dinsen]

Indeed, well done! I second your strategy: Brakes first, engine later. Happy cruising!

[Grapes]

Thanks 😁
I'm happy getting there a little slower as long as I can stop when I get there 😉
Noticed some wobble at higher speeds and it sounds like I need to tighten the fan belt again so I will have to get the wheels balanced and will get the alignment checked as well. It looks like I lost some balancing weights in one of the wheels somehow so that's probably where it comes from.

Any tips for light from the sunroof reflecting on the divider window behind the headrests? I can hardly use the rear view mirror in the car.
Sunroof is also leaking a bit of air because it needs a new rubber seal. Are they a stock part?

And I noticed that the doors seem to be off. The ridge doesn't align with the one in the bodywork. Is that something common?

[Anders Dinsen]

Many Murenas had aftermarket sunroofs fitted (mine doesn't have one), so I doubt there's a standard seal to be found. I found a coat of silicone grease around the seal effective on my Espace. It even reseals after opening and I haven't had to renew it even after a few years. Also, remove the glass to clean the seal well. Dirty seals are the primary cause of leaking sunroofs.

About the reflection, when you have the glass off, fit solar film?

Some misalignment of panels is common. I think the door panels were fitted with the door frame already mounted on the chassis to ensure they were aligned when new, but they were rarely perfect. Matra improved this over the years and in the last Espace's it was always good. But this fitting process, however, means that every door is individually aligned to the chassis it was built for so if the door was replaced during the cars life the panel will always be a bit out of alignment. How much is the misalignment?

/Anders

[Grapes]

Hi Anders,

Thanks for the tips. The seal on my sunroof is probably damaged beyond repair at some places but I had either the brilliant or the stupid idea I might be able to replace the old seal by creating a new seal with either bathroom silicone (the stuff you use to close seams with between e.g. your sink and the wall) or gasket silicone. Just taking out the old rubber tube and just filling the grove with silicone and letting that dry before putting the window back in.

In regards to the reflection, I'm not sure foil will work... there will still be light falling through hitting that back pane I suspect? I'm probably just going to block the window entirely since I mostly like the fact that I can open it. I do sometimes take it out entirely which almost gives it a targa feel. Maybe there's anti reflection foil I can put on the divider pane though! Or was that what you meant all along?

The alignment isn't much but it's visible and now I noticed it it started to bother me
I attached a picture. On the driver's side it's the same but I think not just at the rear but also at the front of the groove. I checked pictures on the web and it's indeed not uncommon. Might at some point just fill the entire groove and paint a black line there. Or perhaps a stripe might already be enough to mask it. Not actually planning to do anything with it on short term unless it was an easy fix though. At some point I probably want to do a new paint job and maybe add skirts but for now my focus is to keep it driving as much as possible.

[roy4matra]

The alignment isn't much but it's visible and now I noticed it it started to bother me
I attached a picture.

Actually that's a pretty good alignment Dan.  You have to remember this is a hand built car on a hot-dip totally galvanised chassis, not a mass produced 'eurobox' made in steel with mm precision.

Do you realise that the galvanising process causes unavoidable slight distortion?  This is why you could not do this to a mass produced car.  The fact that the chassis (which will have distorted slightly) is hidden by the composite outer bodywork makes it possible to hide those slight imperfections.

However, there is one problem and that is the part of the door hinge that is fastened to the chassis is actually welded to the chassis and cannot be moved!  On the passenger side it is just about perfectly placed, but the drivers side (on all cars - see original press release photos) was welded slightly incorrectly and so the rear of the door never did align correctly.  So to lift the rear and align the door and the groove, they packed the lower hinge on the door fastening.  If it is still too low, all you need to do is insert a little more packing.  In fact with age, the door will probably have dropped a little anyway as per the rear of your passenger door, so it will probably benefit from a little more packing to bring it back to correct.

Packing out the door hinge mounting is an easy job, and takes little time.  But when you do this you must also make sure you re-adjust the anchor point too, otherwise the action of shutting the door will mean that the latching of the mechanism on the anchor pin to pull it down out of alignment again!

Roy

[Grapes]

I never realised that that was part of the galvanisation process 😅
Thanks for pointing that out.
Now I know why this is, I'm already a little less bothered by it. I'll have a look at packing the hinges at some point.

[Grapes]

Are the bacs of the rear lamp units supposed to be bare like this?

[Anders Dinsen]

Are the bacs of the rear lamp units supposed to be bare like this?

Yes, a back cover was fitted in Germany, but not in other countries.

/Anders

[roy4matra]

Are the bacs of the rear lamp units supposed to be bare like this?

On the early Murena, up to the end of the 1982 model year, they had a fibre cover that clipped into place behind the rear lamps.  Replacements for these fibre covers used to be available in glass fibre - they may still be, but I haven't checked recently.

For the 1983 model year up to the end of production, the chassis had metal covers welded a the back of the holes in the rear panel before galvanising, forming a solid rear cover for the rear lamps.  (This was for any market model Anders, not just for Germany)

Roy

[MatraIan]

Not sure if they are available at Carjoy or Simon but Matramagic have them listed as in stock. Not cheap though.
Drivers: https://www.matramagic.co.uk/Rear-Light-Internal-Cover-Murena-Driver-Side-p205508762
passenger: https://www.matramagic.co.uk/Rear-Light-Internal-Cover-Murena-Passenger-Side-p205510084
Pics attached and also a pic of the factory one as fitted on my 2.2S
Ian.

[Anders Dinsen]

For the 1983 model year up to the end of production, the chassis had metal covers welded a the back of the holes in the rear panel before galvanising, forming a solid rear cover for the rear lamps.  (This was for any market model Anders, not just for Germany)

Thanks for correcting me, Roy!