If you can somehow incorporate a steerable tail wheel I would highly recomend it (I've seen it done, but don't remember how it was done).
What I did on all of mine was split the elevator, clearance each half for rudder throw and run the rudder to the bottom of the fuse... most any tail wheel will work this way. I joined the elevators in two way's... with a joiner rod and split push rod controlling one horn on each elevator half... the latter was the best... I never had a problem with push rod flex BUT I did have the joined elevators warp now and then... nothing so bad it could not be fixed easily but still a PIA.
John