Matra Jet 6 restoration.

[Jimmy]

very nice job Frans
it came out even better than I thought
jimmy

 

[Frans]

Look what we have decided....I wonder what the meaning of restoration actually means? Does it mean to make it identical as new in 1968, or is it making it better than new or can you do what ever tickles your fancy?



With the engine and box in their current state, the extractor just didn't do it. This rusted piece was like a zit on a beauty queen's forehead.
It might look better now but does it add value?

Regards
Frans

 

[JohnW]

Look what we have decided....I wonder what the meaning of restoration actually means? Does it mean to make it identical as new in 1968, or is it making it better than new or can you do what ever tickles your fancy?

With the engine and box in their current state, the extractor just didn't do it. This rusted piece was like a zit on a beauty queen's forehead.
It might look better now but does it add value?

Regards
Frans

Nice looking manifold Frans.

There is no correct answer to that question, is there? Our "Special Interest Vehicle Association" aims at originality, within reason. But I fitted an alternator to my R8 years ago and, strictly speaking, my 10S gearbox is not original either. Both are modest improvements and from the same range of cars (The R8 is an R1130, the starting model, which ranged to the 10S in Australia and the 1300 R10 which never came here). So I'm fairly relaxed myself, but haven't fitted wide wheels for example.

Value? First you have to decide to sell it! I suspect yours will be so good that the exhaust manifold finish won't deter a buyer - it wouldn't deter me!

See you at the end of July.

Cheers

 

[rubyalpine]

Hi Frans,
I believe in "bolt-on" improvements (such as carbs, manifolds, wheels, steering wheel, etc.) especially if they are from the "period", as these can easily be reversed if need be. I don't believe in chopping and bending bodywork, and fitting different types of engines such as rotary or twincam.
Remember, it's your car and you need to enjoy it your way!

Henry

 

[4cvg]

You are a car owner, not a museum curator. Do whatever will give you the most enjoyment out of the vehicle. Chacun a son gout!

There is a demand for modified Djets as well as for original specification ones. I don't see you wanting to sell it for a good while though; they're too nice as a "C" road car - enjoy your 4 wheel drifts.

cheers! Peter

 

[Ross]

Come on Frans, I thought you and I had an understanding

MODIFY EVERYTHING - including the lawn mower

 

[JohnW]

Come on Frans, I thought you and I had an understanding

MODIFY EVERYTHING - including the lawn mower

:roflmao:

 

[JohnW]

You are a car owner, not a museum curator. Do whatever will give you the most enjoyment out of the vehicle. Chacun a son gout!

There is a demand for modified Djets as well as for original specification ones. I don't see you wanting to sell it for a good while though; they're too nice as a "C" road car - enjoy your 4 wheel drifts.

cheers! Peter

Well put Peter!

 

[Frans]

Thanks Peter, very convincing.

The engine department looks like an Aluminium refinery! I like it!

As we progress through this restoration I came upon a view interesting things. I contacted my Matra group about the wood colour of the dash and they said I could use anything I wanted because it was hand built and the finish would be what the individual liked on the day. I questioned the front bumpers and got the same answer. There is no way that you could say the "early Jet 6s had this and the later ones had that".
I have just had another similar experience. The pedals were a bit of a riddle. I tried R8 pedals but of course they didn't work because all I had was right hand drive ones. Then there was a homemade one as in the pic. "that you can chuck, I am sure it is one of those that the other crowd made for the RH drive" I said to my son and started contemplating about buying LH drive ones.
That night I contacted the Matra crowd again with the pedal question and maybe a pic or two. Imagine my surprise when the pic came in and it was this "homemade" one. Immediately on the phone to my son and told him to get that pedal out of the bin immediately, that is the factory one! I guess that is one of the pleasures of restoring a handbuilt car!!

This is the original Jet 6 pedal. At least 1 of them. I can now manufacture the other one as a mirror image of this and another problem solved.





Regards
Frans.

 

[Frans]

Hi All,

So now I have made the other one and we can continue!







Regards
Frans.

 

[Peter C]

There was a segment on the Australian TV Channel 31 program "Drive it" (which is from Germany) recently which featured a test drive, with commentary) of a yellow 1966 Matra Jet 6.

 

[Frans]

Hi Peter,

I think the one you're talking about is the car built by the guy I get most of my info from. He restored a yellow Jet 6 that was bought by the German Auto Museum.
In the talk the driver complains about the gear selection, I don't know if something was wrong because I'm not there yet with my restoration. Maybe 4cvg can step in here with a comment. Impressive with the 0-100 in 8 seconds and 215 kmh top speed, and that in 1966!
Here is the link to yellow Matra test run, maybe it is the same you saw?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRy0_muCadU

This one demonstrates the road holding and remember it was on 15 x 145 or something like that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5YJPnaRWh0

Regards
Frans

 

[Peter C]

Hi Frans,

Yes, that's the same clip.

Like many, I've followed your resto and admired the great job you're doing. It was eerie while lazily watching TV to all of a sudden see a segment featuring a Matra Jet.

Peter

 

[Frans]

Hi All.
Tomorrow will be spent visiting panel shops for quotations and with a little luck the Matra will stay behind at a panel shop for it's new spray job. Very excited!!!

 

[JohnW]

Hi All.
Tomorrow will be spent visiting panel shops for quotations and with a little luck the Matra will stay behind at a panel shop for it's new spray job. Very excited!!!

Woo Hoo! That is great news. I'm really looking forward to seeing this finished. Might be passing through in late April or early May.

Cheers

 

[Johan]

Hi All.
Tomorrow will be spent visiting panel shops for quotations and with a little luck the Matra will stay behind at a panel shop for it's new spray job. Very excited!!!

For the love of all things automotive,
Please let us know.... did she stay at the panel shop?
Did thy start? When will we see the true colors?

 

[Frans]

It didn't stay at the paintshop that day, but about 2 weeks later. Then came the Silly Season, and all things came to a halt. I visited the guy a week ago to give him the paint codes and I have nothing thrilling to show you yet. Jacques has in the mean time Googled the painter's name,(expect that from the kids nowadays) and it popped up that he is a honorary member of the NZ Mustang club. And the Mustangs in his shop were looking good. We asked him if he was familiar with Fibre Glass and he said thats not a problem because he has done many Corvettes and they are glass as well. I didn't even know! So from that we should see something nice early February.

That is all folks.

Frans.

 

[4cvg]

Belatedly:

I find the shift on my Djet to be OK although it took some familiarisation. The gate is like an H distorted a bit so that the 1/2 & 3/4 planes are not quite parallel to the longitudinal axis of the car but twisted slightly. Dunno how or why. It's a nice shift once familiarised; one has to be definite & firm in movement &, of course, double-declutching smooths things as with all boxes.

Mind you, a past owner obviously didn't like things (& remember that my Djet had, at that stage, only done around 36,000 km from new, so wear would not be the issue). He rose-jointed every connection as the linkages go down the left side of the backbone, cross in front of the transaxle, go down the right side of the transaxle & connect to the input rod at the top of the rear of the boite.

I also think that the yellow Jet owner is a bit rough on the Estafette boite choice. Compared to what else was available to Bonnet from the Renault parts bin at the time, it was the best choice. Yes the 2 to 3 gap was over large (fixed for the Jet 6 which had some bespoke ratios but, in any event, not an irritation to me in my Djet V with standard ratios) but the boite was all synchromesh, robust &, because of its input shaft inside hollow output shaft design, managed to mount the engine lower than would otherwise have been the case - a good thing for the circuit racer it was designed to be.

That said, as 5-speed boites became available in rivals like the Alpine, the 4 speed of the Djet became a disadvantage. Matra no doubt had pockets deep enough to remediate things but by then they were looking past the Djet-Jet to their own M530 replacement for it.

cheers! Peter

 

[Frans]

Thanks for that Peter. The rose joints at the gear lever fascinated me as well and I appreciate the effort they put in to minimise the slack.

I have been to the Matra again today and there are bit more progress. It lokks very good prepped and I couldn't fault the sun roof patch, although when there is gloss paint on it might be a different story.

Regards,
Frans.

 

[Frans]

Today was the day! Matra is painted and back home again and no complaints. Very good job that was done and a pleasure to do business with this guy. No humming and hahing just got down to the job, finished it, didn't hike the price, didn't look for excuses to hike the price, fair dinkum guy.

What do you think?