yes it sounds as if you are either missing the pin and spring that does the starting job inside the engine, also yes with a pull start it is only going to turn in the direction of starting, forcing it will cause damage.....
does the engine turn freely when you turn the flywheel by hand??? most of these little engines suffer from fuel and oil residue left over gunking up and causing just the symptoms you describe, if it does not turn rather easily I would say to mechanically clean the engine using some denatured...
My suggestion is to measure the wheelbase of your rig and then look at sites like McCallister Racing, Proline, Parma, Kyosho, Axial, Tamiya and any of the other body manufacturers for something you like that is in the wb dimensions you have, after all the body can be trimmed and mounts lowered...
Do yourself a favor and stick with genuine HPI parts, you do not seem like you would be able to retrofit and massage something to get it to fit and work properly, the only way to know for sure what is inside is opening the diff and checking what is inside and if they are still usable...
as for...
There are MUCH BETTER rigs out there than the Octane, Losi makes a true 1/8 gasoline powered truck that is 10 times what the octane is...... so unless you have lots of time and experience I would steer clear of that one....
Yes you would remove the ring gear to access the internals......
They may be locktited in but you can get them out if you heat them with the tip of a hot soldering iron and use the correct fitting tool to remove them.....
as for the term "bulletproof" you know as well as I do that there are NO...
Oh Make no mistake I do know what for but the savage is so front end light it just is not necessary at all, My XTM MMT is truggy based and does use 2 servos for steering which with the 3.8 wheels and gnarly tires it does need the help, but I am all for doing needed things and not just making a...
Most of the suspension arms and related parts are plastic, the differential gears are metal but the 29/9 machined gears are usually only put into high power rigs such as the XL and Flux models also the differential carrier on the earlier models were plastic and not alloy which holds gear mesh...
Only way one of us can tell is if you post clear close up pics, as for the differentials you need to remove them from the truck to see what has been done and if they are ready for much more power........
well you bought a set of 8 when you really just need 4, one for each wheel is going to be enough, that is why later models came with 4 big bore vs the 8 regular shocks that came on the earlier models......
These parts are from Fast Lane Machine. They truly some of nicest aluminum parts that we have found. These high quality works of art don't just look great they are very strong. They will give you the quality you are looking for with the strength that everybody wants with a price you won't...
Yes the LRP will direct bolt to your truck, you will be using the flywheel and clutch but you may think about going to alloy shoes and a bit heavier springs like a 1.1 set
If you gonna upgrade the :ercm: to that LRP then you will want to also upgrade the differentials to the 29/9 machined...
you need to use some kind of power polishing tool , I used my dremel and that crank was black and nasty, look how it turned out....even a drill with a polishing pad would work, takes time and effort to get there but well worth it in the end...
also be aware some parts are made out of black...
I polished a crankshaft using polishing compound and my dremel with a polishing felt on it......
took awhile but it did come out sweet, point is you can do it if you apply yourself to it