Been lurking here awhile, absorbing as much as I could.
Ordered some parts from RC monster, and the adventure begun!
Called in reinforcements! Had my old bud Woody help me build shocks, and turnbuckles!! It's a plus that he's also grass root sponsored by Xray.
The kit was flawless, no weird flashings, or mold errors. It basically fell together. It's ALOT lighter than the XT8 08 and sports a truckload of hop ups.

Woody doing his thing

Front and Rear end finished sans suspension. How many brushless motors do you see?

The CVD(s) and all the shafts are BLING. Hard Anodized and HUDY Steel silk screened on all of them

Center Diff and RC Monster Mount in. Mounted up a brand spanking new 2200kv Castle/Neu

Losi Battery Tray installed. On the 09 Chassis, I only had to drill and countersink one hole! vs 4 on the 08. Was able to mount the battery as close to centerline as possible, with the longer chassis.

A shot from the other side.

Broke the diffs in, on the front road. Ran a 4s with 16/48 gearing. Diffs are buttery smooth. Running 7000/30000/7000 in the diffs. I have a spare center diff running 10k.
It got too dark, so I'll charge up my batteries.. and head out to little mountain tomorrow!
Build time was about 9hrs.
E-Conversion time about 1.5hrs.