I'll add some pics from the latest surgery later
Having said that, I've attempted to power it up this morning for its first thermal test of the new cold finger and case mod and it's dead
we went through a lot together. Not 100% sure I'm ready to crack open the known working 1100D so close to New Moon.
The 450D and 1100D appear to differ in that there is a chip on the sensor assembly circuit board whose pins protrude into the cold finger space, hence entry from the hand grip side (right) is simpler than from the left.