I personally like the strain gauge as a leveling mechanism, particularly since I added a magnetic build plate. I like the idea of #2, I wonder if you could use a M10 male to make adapter like this: www.ebay.com/itm/404101432925?chn=ps&norover=…
And just connect your adapter plate to the hotend (or tap the orbiter? Idk)
You might need a little printed spacer and a short Bowden tube inside that.
Other little nice things/learnings for the printer I have done other than the spring steel sheet:
If you want an all metal hotend you can replace the heartbreak with a slice engineering copperhead heartbreak (use a G2 type)
If you want color change capabilities, to have finer z adjust, and to have a larger mesh, i recommend trying the following custom firmware (IF YOU ARE CONFIDENT WITH THIS KIND OF STUFF)