Joystick Modification Question

[wmurphy]

I wasn't sure the "best way" to temporarily mount the joysticks on pressboard, but I came up with the following method. We took the bottom plate off the joysticks and drilled 4 holes. Then we put 4 machine screws (heads on the inside of the bottom plate) and fastened them with nuts on the outside of the bottom plate - leaving 4 threaded shafts protruding. Can't remember if and when we used washers .... Note: Before we put screws in the holes, we used the bottom plate as a template on the pressboard in order to mark the holes we needed to drill in the pressboard. Then we simply reassembled the joysticks (which now have 4 threaded studs coming out of the bottom plate) and pushed the screws through the holes in the pressboard. Next, we put 4 additional nuts on them to hold the joystick(s) in place.

Question: After doing this, I think I read or heard something about NOT modifying the joysticks??? Was the "spirit" of not modifiying them ONLY related to the movement of the stick and / or electrical connections? OR .... is what we did in order to mount them considered an "illegal modification"?