Oh, it happened alright! 
I was inspired by some other folks who have been brave enough to do Nichia swaps on various Zebralight models.
BLF member ‘emarkd’ swapped a Nichia into an older SC80 model in this post. There are a couple other members’ swaps in that post as well.
CPF member ‘match’ did an H51 in this post. Here’s a screenshot of the CPF post, click to embiggen:
The bezel is press fit, and I correctly assumed I’d break the lens while removing it. I found a 10-pack of 18mm x 1mm lenses on FastTech for $1.39 with free shipping.
After reflowing the emitter, I installed the reflector, o-ring, and replacement lens. I pressed the bezel in with a small bench vise.
It’s been working great for over a year!