Although I never had the ARF version, I did have the 40 size kit version. I think that the mods you suggest will work out good. Getting the pushrods shorter will definetly help control slop. Moving the servos to the back I see no problem with except that possibly it might come out a little tail heavy. I had a 50 FSR engine and it flew beautifully with that in the nose and it balanced well with no extra weight. Although I didn't have the servos i the tail. If balance becomes a problem you might try pull pull cables on the rudder with the servo where it would normally go. I would think that the 60 you want to install will be more than enough power, and it might help to balalnce the placement of your servos. You will like the way this plane flies. Good luck and let us know how it worked out for you. Chuck