Yeah I got it worked out and took that Savage out for it's first whipping! Cartwheels, jumps, endos, wheelies and a run it with a mini-mud bog. It's dirty as hell now but it was fun getting it that way. Thanks all. This thing is a lot tougher than I originally thought. I think I'm finally starting to see what I was missing with off-road.

Thanks a ton guys!

BTW, the clutch nut was on upside down. That coned end ground away at the flywheel and once it got loose the clutch springs got ground too. A couple of guys in the HPI Europe forums had the same problem with the ambiguous manual in that section. So I'm probably gonna give them a call and try to get them to spot me replacement parts due to their instructions not being clear.