Some progress, received the diff parts and i've built most of the front and rear ends.
Front end with:- heavy duty servo saver spring, Hellfire steering linkage, steering bearings (not the HPI ones! too $), BP gears, 50K fluid, de-anodised parts and heavy duty cup joint.
Bought the Bosch jigsaw albiet the cheaper DIY line one. Did a test cut of the 3mm and it was quite good. Also bought a great bench drill that was on sale, unfortunately it's on backorder atm :(
Also decided on the wheels. I'm going with Rulux half-ups 1/2 offset with strapped Flux stock GT2 tires mounted on the inner bead for a lower profile. Choice of larger diameter (~160mm) tires is so frustrating. There's still nothing light'ish with really good offroad traction\handling and nothing that's belted at all