Wooden engine mount
Wooden engine mounts were very typical about 20 years ago even for some pattern planes. The breakthrough was the introduction of fiber-filled molded mounts.
The problem I had with wooden engine mounts was that they would usually become 'crushed' by my tightening the mounting bolts every so often (blind nuts were under the wooden engine mounts). Not a big deal because my planes only lasted a short while but it was a problem as I became a better pilot and kept my planes longer.
And the caution above to keep the engine mount area fuelproofed is excellent. Fuel will eventually get into ANY exposed wood in the engine compartment. So I would accurately drill out the engine holes, then drill them out a little oversize, then coat the inside of the holes and the entire engine compartment with two hour epoxy, let it harden completely then drill out the engine holes again to the correct size. That coated the inside of the engine holes with fuel proof epoxy. But that was all eliminated when I changed to the fiber-filled molded engine mounts.