I got the HPI front wheel adapter set, however this didn't fit the HPI wheels I'd bought, and I couldn't think of a way to adapt them accurately enough (I didn't want to drill the wheels.)
Anyhow, after a bit of pondering, I came up with a solution, that works! Apologies if this is a well known work around, I couldn't find any other reference to it.
So, the dilemma. Make this, fit this....
I already have the HPI rear wheel adapter set, that allowed me to fit the 12mm hex wheels to the rear of the Monster Beetle easily.
My idea was, instead of making the wheel free wheel, make the whole axle free wheel, like the rear. So, I used my old rear driveshafts, and chopped the hub off the end of it to give a nice flush 'end stopper'
I then used a a TL01 upright that I had lying around, and trimmed it to fit the monster beetle. The original pin went through nicely.
Ignore the rear wheel adapter above, that put the front wheels spaced out too far. To bring them inline with the rears, I put a 8x5x2.5 bearing either side of the hub assembly (as a spacer) then I used a HPI wheel washer. Instead of the rear wheel adapter for a Tamiya, I used the flush 12mm hex adapter that came in the HPI kit, and opened the hole our to 5mm.
Then, on the other side of the wheel I used two Tamiya 'bearings' as spacers.
The end result is a perfectly secure, balanced, free wheeling wheel. Plus as an added bonus, I'm not going to be breaking any more uprights.
