Great project!

All Tipo's are worth restoring to their original state.

Since you most likely will need to replace the FW, and if I may make a suggestion, restore the canopy to it's original shape and mount the engine sideways as it should. If you prefer to keep the pipe down the fuse side (though Tipo's are optimized for a pipe slung under the wing due to their stab anhedral) you can use a RE engine (currently, both YS and NR produce RE 61' - both of which have monster power) but otherwise a good old fashioned SE 61 will do the trick and the model will present even better with the pipe under the wing.

Welcome to the forum!

David

P.S. You may recognize my avatar model...