Matador Express 914

**Jeph** · August 30th, 2014, 10:23 AM

This is a Matador Express 914. I really like the Matador pens. This one had a steel nib transplanted and the piston did not work. The piston unit, cap closure and section are all hard rubber and they were the normal brown. It also had a clear name imprint on the barrel. So it slipped by most of the sharks into my mailbox. Silly monkeys. Except is showed up and the entire thing was coated inside and out with something very close to Vaseline. And the nib unit collar was cracked. Maybe I was the silly monkey.

The barrel looks like chased hard rubber but it is just plastic. But the barrel is dark and scratch free and the “chasing” is crisp. The cap barrel is also plastic with no damage. I never was able to remove the cap closure from the cap. I went to as hot as I was willing to go several times and just gave up. The snake clip (how cool is that?) is in as new condition. When I unscrewed the nib unit I noticed that the Degussa nib moved with pressure. Then I found the crack in the nib unit collar and was very sad. But it turns out that the transplant nib has the right length and radius for the nib but it is too thin to fit properly. So that nice stainless Degussa nib goes into the donor box where I doubt that it will remain for long. I have a large 14K nib that I thought was perfect for this pen but, alas, the curvature was wrong and it would have split the collar the rest of the way if I tried to force it to fit. Instead I used an old Pelikan chrome nickel wartime nib. It was both long enough and had the correct curvature. I think I know where to find a better nib that should fit but I am keeping that a secret until I do it. The discolored hard rubber I restored by simply polishing off the rotten parts. As you can see from the area just above the clip in the close-up, I could not take all of it off of the cap closure without removing the “Matador Express” imprint. I felt that the words were worth more than pristine hard rubber. There were also clear plier marks on the piston housing from some halfwit that came before me. It was probably the same one that coated everything with the Vaseline. I was able to make them look less offensive but they had to stay to preserve the “914 F” imprint and the arrow showing you which way to turn the piston. I coated all of the hard rubber parts with wax so hopefully the color will last for a while. Taking the (large) name off the barrel proved to be the hardest part. In typical German fashion, the imprint was deep and crisp. To complicate things further the edges of the dedicated imprint area were surrounded by the “chasing” that prevented me from being able to get a smooth transition. I started off with some 1200 grit to knock the edges off, and then spent hours and hours with my Novus #3. When I tried the #1 and #2 I said to myself that there would never be a need for #3 but now I have invented as use for it. I am disappointed with the end result because it is a little wavy but the imprint is gone and now it is MINE. (If I had to do it over again I would leave the imprint.)

The cork piston seal would not draw water and although it got slightly better after a few days of holding water it never did expand enough to make a proper seal. It just so happens that the OD of the piston seal surface and the ID of the barrel was right for a stack of 4 metric sized o-rings. A little silicone grease and it works perfectly now. It is also interesting to note that the outer piston housing is one large piece, with the small knob at the end pinned to an internal screw mechanism that the peg in the end of the piston rides within.

So after a lot of work and a little luck I have one very, very nice pen. It is going to take a little more investment to source a nib worthy of the rest of the pen but it will be worth it.

And now to the pictures.

**piscov** · August 30th, 2014, 10:47 AM

Great pen Jeph! Matador are indeed great looking pens, built with fantastic quality. Congratulation on your find!!

Just one small piece of advic, if I may.
To many o-rings will produce excessive friction on the barrel inner wall. That Matador has those black lines that give such grace to the inkwindow. It hapens that those lines are painted on the celluloid and will tend to come out with use under to much friction.

My suggestion is to only use 2 orings and make a small hardruber or plastic ring with a diameter slightly inferior to that of the orings and use the spacing between orings as a permanent lubed area where you can put a bit of pure silicone grease. The piston will work better and the blackstripes will last you longer.