HI, glad to hear you are getting to work on the Pilatus. Just a thought, I have built and flown a couple of these. The deflection on the ele. is fine to fly the plane. On mine and on the numerous customers I have talked with, the plane flew great with the deflection in the stock setup. If you want you could set some washers in on the other side of the stab to mount it with the tape on the top. But it is not really required unless you are going to try some IMAC flying with this baby. At this time I am flying one with a US-35. I did as you and set the battery to the rear of the plane. This balanced it well. You will find when you put her in the air she is VERY forgiving. I have talked with guys that used 0/0 thrust and I have talked with guys that used 2/3 down right. Never had a single complaint on the flight performance.
Neat idea on the struts. They are not loud, but the set up you are talking of is superior to the stock set up.
Just word of caution, the firewall is 1/2" thick. If you use a stock muffler on your G38 you will need to cut a hole for the muffler. Use a hand saw. The wood is VERY! hard and a hand saw will be a pain in BUTT . I used a jig saw on one and because it was so wide and hard it just vibrated the plane to all hek. I did not see any damage on it but reglued some joints just in case. 150 flights later she is fine.

Jeff, I am sorry but the website is not up yet. Email at [email protected] and I will send some photos.
GOOD LUCK!!!!!&Good flying