well I have mounted none standard HS's on sammys before.. it aint that hard or anything. As for the fragility of the core(s) - dont be too scared / put-off: Before the core(s) actually break, the rig will freeze & yes I know this from experience! it went something like this: rig is running completely fine, in W7... tighten one of the screws too far & voila! complete freeze - no mouse move, nothing. So I would then turn it of, loosen the screw(s), turn on, all fine again
The rig I did this 'testing' on is still running fine today - its that one I gave away to my best friend as a wedding gift.

IMHO, the biggest 'barrier' so-to-speak, isnt that step between HS & CPU, instead, it is finding a HS that has the same alignment in regards to the stand-offs / legs with the mobo holes. If I had a HS that had 'legs' that aligned with the mobo HS mounting holes, the rest would be a piece of cake