I mounted the landing gear on the bottom of the plate rather than the way it came on the top, This was very easy- with a dremel just cut a similar slot 1/4 inch higher than the one below. After putting in the small light ply tabs which tie in to the fuselage sides on the upper area, I put some 1/4 inch square pieces of scrap light hardwood to fill the gap where the old hole was- just needs a little filler and sanding and it will disappear.

Next I did the engine mount. I picked up the ply/carbon fiber piece and realized it felt pretty heavy, so I cut out a piece of light ply and glued that in instead. Make sure you mount the engine mount before gluing in this piece since it gets in the way when you are positioning the mount. I cut two 1/8 light ply rings and glued them to the back of the hyde mount. Then I sanded the plates so that when trial-fitting the engine with the mount, the spinner ring has just a little less right thrust. Attached is a picture of those installations as well.

While I had the engine mounted, I put the throttle pushrod in. I used the cutout for the throttle servo, put the servo in and then put a piece of light balsa to position the throttle cable guide.