chadr

I bought a cen pro matrix with engine and electronics on ebay yesterday for $225 shipped with this stuff and a little more included.

alloy bulk shock towers front and back
alloy stable bars (don't know exactly what he meant by this)
alloy front spindles
red alloy steering linkage
red alloy front bulk brace
red alloy rear bulk brace

link to the pictures on ebay - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...:X:RTQ:US:1123

Seems like the used ones I was watching on ebay would sell for much more than what I paid for this and they didn't have an engine or electronics. I really can't believe I got this car for the price considering the matrix pro kit alone is 300+. Why are these selling so cheap used? Is it comparable to other popular 1/8 buggies? I don't know if this matrix has the sh or cen nx engine yet. If I do have the nx engine that people say is horrible what do I do to make it last? If the engine is the sh engine maybe it is that much better of a deal?

I have cen magnum nx that I am running at the local track now. I've caused my share of damage to the magnum so I can't say its weak - luckily I bought a spare cen magnum complete so I can break the entire car one piece at a time and still not be out of action for very long I don't plan on buying a spare matrix just to keep my car running if I have a bad crash or two, so what should I consider getting spares of? What should I get to make it stronger without spending much money? Should I be scared of crashing/missing a double or triple jump? I missed a double with my magnum the other day and my rear shock tower folded 90 degrees over when the car flipped.

fastxr

Way to go on a great price for a Matrix! Im sure you will love the matrix, it is a very strong and capable buggy, so dont worry about that. I think they go cheap sometimes because Cen is not as well known as some of the other makes, so people shy away from them and their resale value reflects that. I purchased my matrix fre on ebay as well and got a killer deal on it ~300, even came with a ofna starter box and spektrum dx2 tx and rx. Oh and to fix that busted shock tower on your magnum, Dr. Honda is selling new designed much stronger shock towers for $25 a pair plus shipping, have a look at this thread "By request, ARO Funfactor Shock towers are back!!"

Tree1

I tihink the reason these have been selling so cheap lately is because the Matrix II is due to come out this summer.

By the looks of the pictures in the ebaylink, the Matrix you bought looks like it has the NX-26 engine. If you are not going to replace the engine I would recommend sealing the engine with automotive silicon around the carb and backplate. Also I would remove the needles and check the o rings. If the are ok then put a little plumbers tape around the threads and reinstall both needles.

The Cen Matrix is a really good buggy. It is gaining in popularity beacuse it is very durable and can be very competitive with the right engine and electronics. Good luck and I hope you enjoy your Matrix as much as I have mine.

chadr

i used some Permatex Ultra Black Maximum Oil Resistance RTV Silicone Gasket Maker (a little copy/paste action there) on my magnum nx-18 engine. When it came to the carb I left the smaller o-ring in place, but removed the larger one that seals against the outside edge of the crank case. Then I applied a film of silicone on the body of the carb, tightened the lock nut, and let it sit for a day. Probably was a bad idea to remove the upper o-ring because the carb would rock back and forth easily when the throttle and brake was applied. So when using the sealer are you supposed to use new o-rings as well? No matter how tight the carb lock nut was it would still wiggle so the seal from the silicone was basically worthless. I guess other engines are designed so the sealing o-rings can seal instead of hold the rocking motion of the carb in check too?

premiernitrorc

My Feedback: (15)

The reason it sold cheap is because the title didn't include the word Matrix. I have done searches for Cen Matrixes every few days and missed that listing. If you type Cen Matrix to search under it will not show up. If I had seen that auction I probably would have been the high bidder.

Also, the price of them actually has gone up. There is a seller that has them on ebay and when he first started off they were going for $211-240. The last one ended at $349.

chadr

I got lucky he left out "Matrix" from the title I suppose, couldn't believe not a single other bid out there still. I got the car yesterday and it looks to be in perfect shape. The only thing that isn't cnc is the rear shock tower. It is a stock looking gray one, but he shipped an extra one as well. I didn't get any preload spacers with the shocks and the car seems very soft. Are there other spacers I can get at my local hobby store instead of using tie wraps?