Ttdflight, is this the Dave Platt designed kit? I don't know how long the kit was in production but it is still likely to be pretty old. Dave Platt is a great designer but the state of the art has still moved on. I agree with Tom Crump about build threads. It keeps people interested and experienced builders will follow along. Having recently built an Aristocraft Staggerwing I've experienced some of the thrills of a vintage kit. Vacuformed details such as cowlings and exhaust pipes or louver plates can usually be salvaged but you want to look at any load bearing plastic with a very critical eye. Plastic gets brittle with age and replacing control horns and mounting clips is cheap insurance. You should probably count on dumping the phenolic mounting plate. The one in my stagger wing cracked after the first flight. You may want to pop down to the hardware store for a bit of aluminum stock or order some G-10 fiberglass sheet from McMaster-Carr for a new engine mount. Modern materials such as carbon fiber, flexible pushrods and lightweight servos are your friends. Please don't take this as discouragement. Building old kits can be very satisfying and I am a big fan of WWI airplanes. There are still a lot of builders around who will give freely of their experience.