The objective of the CNC retrofit team is to repair and enhance a used Shopmaster Eldorado Bridgemill that has not been used for several years. The mill must be fully functional with a 3-axis configuration and lathe capabilities.

Our x and y axis work fine with the motor but the z-axis is giving us some trouble.

Right now, the silver mill fine feed handle (in picture) to the right of the quill manually controls the z-axis movement. Our goal is to install a motor and use a lead screw through the z-axis bracket hole and directly move the quill. We are not able to push/pull on it, so we think that any attached mechanism may break the existing mechanism. Is our best course of action to remove the housing and disengage the current mechanism? Would there be an issue with installing the motor without doing so?