Advice needed on hardtailing a Japanese Mustang

[wayfarer]

Hi all. I'm new to the forum and in search of some advice. I've got a left-handed (Made in Japan) Mustang circa 2004-2005 that I'm thinking about hardtailing.

I'm looking for a clean, elegant solution that is easily reversible if it turns out I miss the tremolo. I recently discovered that Fender sells a "Mustang Dynamic Stoptail Assembly" as a drop-in replacement for the usual Mustang tremolo. This looks like just the thing. However, I'd like to avoid purchasing something that ultimately doesn't work with my setup, so I have some questions:

1. Is this stoptail assembly compatible with a Made in Japan (MIJ) Mustang?
2. What should I do about the bridge? Even with this assembly installed the bridge would still be able to rock back and forth. Does the assembly come with any hardware to stop the bridge from rocking inside the thimbles?
3. Fender released a "Ben Gibbard" signature Mustang as few years ago with this same stoptail assembly. How does this model address the rocking bridge issue?
4. Does the fact that my Mustang is Japanese and left-handed pose any potential issues here?

Hoping there are some offset nerds out there who can help me out and wow me with their knowledge.

Cheers!

[gibs]

Pretty sure eyguitar sells hardtail conversion plates for the mustang that are gonna be waaaaaay cheaper than direct from fender (didn’t even know they were making these) I know they have jag/jm conversion plates. If you want to stop off the bridge movement, go to a store, and look for nylon bushings with 3/8” outside diameter and 1/4” inside diameter. That will remove most of the rocking movement, and is indeed what fender does with the Johnny marr and American professional guitars (you can buy fender bushings for like $10 on reverb, but it’s gonna cost about $2 at the hardware store parts bin section). You may need to wrap some electrical tape around one revolution take any additional movement out. This is what I had to do with my JM bridge, I’ve since removed the bushings as I did notice it took away a lot of the behind the bridge clanginess when strumming there (not something I normally do, but it’s fun, and a lot more resonant without the bushings), that and I wasn’t really hitting the bridge and knocking it out of center so much after I removed the bushings, I may use them on an upcoming build just to compare/contrast the sound differences, just in case I was imagining the whole thing.

[AcrylicSuperman]

1. Yes
2. Buy a set of vintage spec bushings for kluson tuners. They will fit right into the top of the thimbles, then drop your bridge posts through the holes and it won't be able to move. And of it does, it will move very, very little.
3. I have no experience with that model.
4. No