Hey James,
The Plans I would recommend to start with would be the Floating Drydock's TFW series on the North Carolina. If it was me, I would supplement them with the "G" series drawings of the Washington, as it never hurts to get a second opinion, as it were.
Consider getting some photographs from FD of the ship as well in her World War II fit. I know you live near the ship, but you would be surprised sometimes the changes they mak on musuem ships over the years in the interest of safety/ access/ entertainment / comfort. For example, you will no doubt find vent trunks and intakes that were not there when the ship operated, as tourists need a higher comfort level than sailors <g>.
As for parts, it is really up to you what you want to fabricate and what you want to buy. I am not really into building hulls, so I would purchase that, but some folks get a real kick out of that. If you don't have a lathe, getting the gun barrels can save a lot of work. A lot of the deck fittings, watertight doors, that sort of thing are repetitive and can get a bit dull to make, so you can always buy those. There are several companies making 40mm guns at this point, with Sirmar and John Hayes probably the best on the price / value curve, but you can spend anywhere from 6.00 each for lead one from HR (at least that is what they used to cost, not sure now) to 105.00 (!) for cast brass ones from China from a railroad company.
For a project of this magnitude, it probably would not hurt to get a catalog from Floating Drydock and Scale Shipyard. You can supplement them with a catalog from Loyalhanna Dockyard as well. Floating Drydock is such a rich resoruce that a catalog from them is a must for US Navy Modelers, and Scale Shipyard has many items for your project. In fact, a beautiful USS Washington Model was built mostly there from SSY parts, and you can see it on my musuem models gallery in my website. If I can help you at all with any aspect of this project, write me anytime (seaphoto@aol.com)
Cordially,
Kurt