I made the changes today. It turns out that the two balsa stick push rods weighed 0.9 oz., lighter that the 4-40 push rods. I was able to remove about 3 oz from the nose and get the same balance as before.

- That gives me about 6 oz. of nose weight, the battery fitting tightly under the fuel tank - up against the firewall, and a total of about 4 oz. lighter than before. I don't really like the battery up in the fuel tank area, but... oh well.

Yes... it was probably worth the trouble to convert back to the original design for the push rod assemblies for rudder and elevator - balsa sticks.