mattyb13

Well I got it! I got ALL the things I need to get this monster going. Today is the day! Motor break in day! Any input here from Matrix owners on break in would be awesome!!! Gulp! I did make some modifications to my Matrix once I got it out of the box though...
THE BODY: The body did not fit very well out of the box. All it does in Vermont is Rain. SO, I broke out the dremel and I adjusted the body. I opened up the antenna hole so it fits in and out with no snags. I opened up the motor heat sink area A LOT to allow access to the pull start without having to wrestle it out from under the body. Plus, i assume that a bigger opening will allow for more air. THEN I took a couple inches of fuel tubing, slit it up the middle and superglued it in place which insulated the edges of the opening I made for the pull starter so there is no wear on the pull cord. CAME OUT SLICK! Next it was the front end of the body. The steering linkage was hitting the body on full lock so I opened up that area. Then the area near the shock towers needed some opening. Next it was the opening for the exhaust stinger. That was annoying because the opening was way off and that made the body sit all cock eyed when I put it on. easy fix. When i was working on that area I noticed that there was some interference between the actual chassis and the stinger. Another easy fix. Just opened up the chassis opening for the stinger and now its a perfect fit. Also... Stickers on the body looked terrible out of the box. Took most off. Repositioned others. Much better now!
CAN NOT WAIT TO GET THIS THING GOING!!!
Thanks for reading!

Hordsak

I don't have one yet, but I will be getting one in the next little bit, and I can't wait. Tell me how you like it and how it was to break it in.

mattyb13

I am in love with the buggy so far. I have 5 tanks through it and it seems to be going well. The engine is still finicky but I'll get it dialed. I ran three or four tanks through it at near idle with the wheels off the ground. I would recommend a lot of work with the dremel on the body to get it to fit a little bit better. Drove me nuts till I adjusted it. I am using O'donnels 20% adn OS 8 plugs and that seems to work. The stock CEN glow pug didnt even work! Oh well. The pull starter takes a little bit to get used to and I for sure have a couple blisters but I look forward to working on my buggy every night! I am using a duratrax igniter which as long as you charge it every night seems to work well. Next for me is stepping to battery packs for both the receiver and the Transmitter. As you can prob tell by my other posts I am trying to get my breaks dialed but thats tinkering which is fun. Few more tanks through it tonight which should be fun....!

Yankeesuave

Matty,

I'm in Upstate NY. I'll be checkin in on ya. keep posting about your Matrix. I just got one myself and will be working with it soon. It's in the mail. due to arrive on 8/13/07

mattyb13

Yankeesuave
CONGRATS on your MATRIX! Such a fun buggy Hope all is going well for you! My Matrix is turning into quite the machine! I have done a ton of hop ups. ROTO-START (KEY!) Carbon chassis plates upper and lower, carbon radio plates, red aluminum chassis braces and servo saver bell crank, lots of tires and wheel kits, different shock oils, changed the fuel lines, upgraded to ofna 1600nimh receiver pack, tons of spare parts etc...! I have gone through about 3/4 tanks of fuel so far and I am constantly working on it and tinkering. Only had it on the track once. I have found a lot of things that needed to be adjusted from what comes out of the box for the Matrix to really hit its potential. My brakes were junk out of the box and now are amazing. Little things really. The one thing I'll warn you about is that the Matrix likes to run hot. CEN is actually sending me a new set of needles for my engine because they suspect there might be an air leak in my engine. Supposed to get them and install them today as well...
keep us posted.

Chubbysdad

My Feedback: (1)

yes they do run hot. I also had a carb problem with mine. Cen is sending me another. I put the bad lands on it and it keeps up with the .28's on my track no problem.

Yankeesuave

Matty

Thank you for the welcome! Yeah, I'm excited about getting it. Seems like it might be an underrated buggy. I think you're about to become my new best bud on here man.... I hope it's alright that I come to you about stuff concerning my matrix. I feel like a NOOB. Many more things we can do with these buggies compared to 4 years ago.

YAY! Now i'm looking even MORE forward to it. I saw your list of things you did to your car before you actually started break in. Mind giving me a simplified *Like I'm a dummy* explination of exactly what you did?

Thanks dude!! yay!

Frank

mattyb13

so funy that someone is asking me for advice as I am relatively new to this. I am addicted though!!! My best advice is to also consult DOGMAN on these forums. He is the TRUTH!
OK, here is what I did. Some may do it differently but I was SUPER timid as I had NEVER had any experience with Nitro RC before I got my Matrix. FIRST thing I realized is the importance of a properly charged glow igniter (or two!) I got a good sturdy box that could act as a car stand. Filled the tank and fired her up. It was obviously very rich. It was spitting tons of fuel and oil but I guess thats the name of the break in game! It was very "blubbery". Every now and then I had to give her a bit of throttle to get the engine cleared out. Very easy on and off the gas. Not even 20% Just enough to keep it running. It did stall a couple of times but that was OK. The pull starter got old quick. I HEAVILY suggest getting a pair of mechanix gloves for yourself. between the blisters and the burns I wish I had! I did this for 4 full tanks of gas. I let the engine cool fully between tanks. I didnt put the car on the ground until the 5th tank of gas. On the 5th tank I just did very very gentle parking lot laps. It was still very rich but running a little more consistently at this point. All of this was done with the body off as well. After 6 or 7 tanks of gas I started leaning it out and tuning it a little. It got REAL fast REAL quick! I also used after run oil after each session running my buggy. It takes time to break it in but it is fun and lets you get to know whats going on with your car. The next things I did:
1. Receiver battery pack!!! This is key! I got an OFNA 1600 nimh pack. I suffered the dreaded runaway as one of the AA batts popped out of the stock battery holder and my matrix's life was almost cut very short!
2. Transmitter batts. I bought ORION 2300nimh rechargeables for the trans. I have never even seen the batts drop off of full charge. Even after hours of Trans useage.
3. Airtronics dual charger: They make this killer charger that will let you charge the trans and receiver at the same time. Slick and you will love it. Additionaly I installed the hi-tec on off switch thats allow you to charge the receiver pack without disconnecting it from the receiver. VERY VERY COOL, easy, cheap and convenient
4. I was contemplating a failsafe and that may be a good idea but for $3.00 you can buy a throttle return spring to prevent runaways. These things are fast and scary when they take on a mind of their own! My t.r.s. works awesome and I have no worries of a runaway buggy anymore!!!
5. The next thing I would do (and some hate these as well but...) is a roto-start!!! For $45.00 you can remove that evil pull starter. Mine broke so many times and destroyed my hands!!! Worth every penny in my opinion to get the roto start. Love mine!
6. I bought an air cleaner for the Matrix pro kit that has the elbow in it to allow more air to the cooling head. The Matrix buggy runs a little hot. The more air the better.
I try to upgrade one thing at a time so I can see its affect on the buggy. I am still chasing the perfect tune on my Matrix but is quick! i raced four REVO 3.3's the other night at my local track and was every bit as fast if not even faster!!!
Good luck, let me know if I can offer any more advice!!

Chubbysdad

My Feedback: (1)

You should be able to destroy the 3.3's. I also changed out the air filter to the motorsaver for the 3.3 revo.

The Real Dogman

Now MattyB that was very well explained!!! And good work on the Matrix!!! As Cermont said you should be able to smoke the 3.3's so keep looking for that perfect tune. In fact, you migh benefit from using the [link=http://www.rchardware.com]N-Tune tuning dial [/link](tell Mark I said hello) I recommend the race version!!

Anyway, On the matrix buggy you could also set it up for a starter box if you prefer that method of starting. I still have the pull start on my Arena Truggy because I am still trying to make up my mind which way to go

Nice Airtronics setup MattyB btw

Welcome to the boards and CEN ownership Yankeesuave, You will be well taken care of here.

Clermont great job on providing the CNC bellcrank, some of the best online sales I've experienced, I will be buying more from you....

Have fun fellas!!

wriffwraff

funny you should metion that you still have the pullstart b/c you're still contemplating. on your cen truggy, that is. i'm sort of in the same boat, as i recently shelved my italian bump start engine for inspection and maintenance. i dropped in the stock cen engine that i received under warranty from cen b/c i need it until i can figure out the .21 axe rossi. thing is you have to use the xtm 24.7 backplate with either the xtm 24.7 pull start plate or the ofna roto start plate if you want to use a starter box with the SH engine because you have to place it on spacers because of it's gigantic backplate. you can convert it to bump start only using a cen .28 backplate, however, you have break out the dremmel and cut the crankpin, i'm told. i'm researching that ordeal as we speak. so with all that in mind, i must ask, are you able to use a starter box on the stock set up, if so, how? i really don't want to open this engine up, just yet. plus, if i convert, i'd like to go the bumpstart backplate route, but instructions and pictures are hard to come by. i mean, i've been trying to find a picture of the process for two weeks now. especially the crankpin mod. it'd be great to know the what, when, where, why and how, as it relates to cutting the crank [sm=72_72.gif]

matrix tr arena .28 SH pullstart to bump start conversion:

parts: http://store.outacontrolhobbies.com/mipa.html
instructions: http://aedownloads.com/pdf/backplate_web.pdf and http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...08/ai_n8962478

finally decided to go for it

The Real Dogman

Well wriffwraff, You should tear down any new engine to be sure it is absolutely clean inside. Most factories are in hurry to get engine packaged and on truck that little peices of metal or grit get left behind. It does not happen in every engine but when it does you will kick yourself for not being sure it was clean before you started it. Of course some companies do the warranty thing, but wouldn't you be much happier not having to wait for shipping?? Been there done that, and if I can avoid it again I will.

Anyway, When I do decide what to do I will prolly do a quick "How to" with Pictures. A freind of mine just got the parts for the roto start conversion, maybe I can talk him into taking a few pics while he changes his. If I do decide to go bump start I want make it as clean as possible so there is no parasitic drag on the crank shaft so I will want a bumpstart back plate too, so let me know when and if you find one...

Good Luck and keep with the good work..

Yankeesuave

Hey Matty,

I got my Matrix today. You're absolutely right about the body work needing to be done. Ridicolous. It's cut like crap. I also notice a nut that is hittting one of the arms below the shock tower. I can tell by simply driving it, a grove should wear there and make the steering less restrictive (it's when I turn left.).

Goofed up already and ordered a futaba hump pack when the radio was airtronics. Sucks... I'm on no choice but to run the car with the battery pack for the time being until I get another hump pack. To bad I couldn't go to my local hobby shop to exchange it (might try it).

I have nothing adjusted what so ever. I'm going to suffer with the pullstart for break in purposes; but i'm very interested in the roto-start. What kind was it?

The servo's were BOTH way off. I had to adjust those to get them just a bit closer for dialing in. No biggie.

I've got no upgrades in my future for the time being. I'm going to upgrade as a break stuff. For now, i'm just going to tune her in best I can; make the body FIT the damn CAR, and get the essentials to make working with it easier (IE: roto start, body adjustment, dialing in)

I know one thing I'm going to have to do is seal the engine from air leaks. There's a whole thread with detailed instructions of how to do it, but man...I'm nervous. I haven't been in an engine yet. Well, to tell you the truth; I haven't been into any of my cars (NITRO) yet. Not in great detail. I was a 1/10 scale electric junky that got hooked on these *******s. Year after year it seems the RC jargon is getting more complicated to understand and the cars are getting more sophicated. I think I'll have to roll up my sleeves and just do it here eventually.

Ok, tomorrow is break in day. I'll let you know how it went and what i'm up to.

ebxxxmaxx

Yankeesuave,
the futaba hump pack will work with airtronics stuff. It depends on which reciever you have the mini there are 2 things that need done 1) cut the fin off the side of the connector. 2) then you might have to take an xacto knife and cut a little chamfer on 2 of the coners, before you do this look at you old 4 cell connector to se where the red and blck wires got so you can cut the chamfers right. If you have a regular reciever ytu will just need to do step 1 above.

wiffwraff,
yes the stock setup on the matrix takes a bump box very well. All i had to do to mine was chamfer the chassie a little more for clearence and remove all the pegs from the starter box so the wheel to fit. I will try and get a couple of pictures of my matrix's chassie so you can see the chamfer I was talking about.

Yankeesuave

ebx,

After some further research today; both calling local hobby shops, amain and tower hobbies, I'm pleased to discover that yes, cutting off the little fin on the side of the connector will indeed work. The airtronics radio equipment comes with type "Z" connectors when Futaba is a standard type "J". Here is a little link that I found very useful in getting to know the different types of connectors out there and which radio systems they are associated with:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=392644

Dremels. They are looking more and more attractive every day for this hobby. I think i'm going to browse around and pick one up. I'd rather not hack the body up with scissors or a knife and missing my mark. Break in might be delayed a day or two. I want to have most of everything in order before first pull.

By the way...people on here are a heck of a lot smarter then some of the technical support at hobby shops.

ebxxxmaxx

Yankeesuave,

yes dremels are a must for this hobby I have 2 different ones. I have a cordles one that i carry with me to the track and a corded one that has more grunt.

wriffwraff

thanks for the replies guys regarding the .28 SH pullstart. nonetheless, i repaired and dropped my .21 axe rossi back in. pullstart just ain't my thang. the ofna chrome top starter box is the way to go in my experience. i'll give the SH another chance once i complete the bumpstart backplate conversion. ordered the backplate today from outtacontrol hobbies online. it shipped priority mail, so i should have it before the end of the week. if i get it by thursday, i should be able to complete the conversion, in time to run it, instead of the .21 engine, this saturday at the track. i mean, the .28 SH is an awesome engine. i had no idea that it would be so powerful. so hey, for the moment, i like it better than my .21 axe rossi... and that's saying alot, cos' the axe rossi boasts 2.94 HP and 41,200 RPM

Yankeesuave

Update:

Day 3 of having the car. No start yet. Might happen today if the rain holds out.

So far I have done the following:

-Checked every nut and bolt on the car
-Customized the body to fit better
-Cut two holes for windows on the passanger and driver sides; then covered with some very fine aluminum screen (for increased air flow --> since I've been hearing the Matrix runs hot)
-Cut the nubs off the side of my futaba hump pack
-Calibrated the steering and throttle servo
-Zip Tied the air filter

Today I need to work with the suspension. Is the car supposed to bottom out so easily? I drop it on the ground from maybe 2 feet up and it bottoms out. I was simply going to tighten the suspension to correct this problem, but by all means...if someone else has a suggestion how to correct this let me know.

Thanks,
Yankee

Yankeesuave

Oh, another thing:

What suggests are out there for tires to put on this buggy? BTW, I'm like...zero interested in glueing these things so I'd totally prefer some preglued.

Just lookin for suggestions concerning which tires are good for which conditions.

Thanks,

ArizonaRevo

You should glue your own the tires they will fall apart at the seams in my experience from using pre-glued . But if you decide to go with them I have used pro-line crimefighters from a-main and for the matrix truggy i use GRP's from a-main. Both are decent and no glued fingers lol.

Yankeesuave

Hey Arizona,

It's just inexperience. I glued my tires once a LONG time ago (2001 I think on a crappy kyosho dodge ram ---> first nitro) and it turned out like crap. So, always bought pre-glued.

I'll hunt around for talk concerning glueing tires. Thanks for the advice tho!

Yankeesuave

Well, day one of breakin and the nightmare has started:

First tank of fuel the damn engine stalled out so many times I can't even count!!!!!!!!!!

Second tank... --- less stalling but a PAIN IN THE AZZ STILL!!!!!

Very beginning of 3rd tank... Pull Start Breaks.

Now, i've owned nitro buggies b4 and never have broken a pull start. I know their range. I'm simply convinced the pullstart on this engine simply sucks.

I want that roto start. I don't own a drill so I'll need the full thing. My local hobby shop doesn't know jack from squat concerning nitro's...so what do I do? Matty, I see you got a roto start. What did you buy exactly and what did you have to do? Is there enough room coming in from the back to make it work?

Signed:
A very frustrated RC enthusiast

The Real Dogman

I know I'm not MattyB, but I hope this'll do......[link=http://cgi.ebay.com/CEN-G70358-ROTO-TECH-STARTER-SET-Matrix-GST-7-7-NIB_W0QQitemZ280141668264QQcmdZViewItem]Complete Roto Start Kit For The Matrix, GST 7.7, Genesis LE, Genesis 4.6, and Nemesis 7.7[/link]

If you google "CEN Roto-tech" that should be the first listing..

Good luck if you need anything else just ask. But try the search feature first, you might find these answers quicker than we can get it for you!!

Have fun!!!

Yankeesuave

Thanks Dog!

Question is...is that roto start going to work with the CEN Matrix CL-1 RTR Buggy?

mattyb13

OK, the roto-start is my savior!!! I love it. So worth the $45.00!!! completely recommend it! CEN makes a slick roto start that works on the monster trucks and the Matrix buggy. I got mine from a main hobbies. It will absolutely work on the Matrix RTR buggy. works great. Took 1/2 hour from start to finish to install. I bought a basic 7.2 volt pack and it lasts all day at the track easily. The pull starters are junk in my opinion and the roto-start makes the whole day much more fun adn less pain in the ass!!!