John,
I am anxious to see more of your work on this conversion. You've already got my attention with the linear rail conversion!
I've been thinking about that for some time now .. but have not proceeded because of the difficulty of tearing down the machine while inside the enclosure.
My shop is so small, I would have to move a large shelving unit that is quite full to get the machine into the open where I could lift it out of the enclosure to tear it down!
Your build might just be the thing that pushes me over the edge into doing it!
Gary