Thanks for the tip re: the alternative igniter. Just replaced mine for a second time, and that part # was a lot cheaper than the "OE" one (the nxr people were kind enough to send me the first one for free as it was barely out of warranty). Seems to work fine so far.
In trade, I will offer up a couple of my (exceedingly many) experiences from keeping my nxr range alive for the past 8 years.
First off, a good stainless welder can DEFINITELY fix the U-shaped burner. I noticed the same issue on my last igniter replacement, and experienced the same backorder issue with NXR parts.
I had it welded this morning, and it works great. The welder hammered the blown-out perimeter back into shape and just hit it with his bead (ie: did not section in a new piece) until it was closed. The weld is a bit bulky, but solid and clean - and he recommended leaving it vs grinding it down for aesthetics, as the extra material will likely help prevent future blowouts. The igniter has perfect clearance, and functions properly!
Here it is post weld. He was able to keep it far enough away from the tiny holes to where they are still intact and operational. The before picture of mine looked exactly like the one pictured above.
While my cost to get this done was definitely reduced as I have brought a lot of work their way over the years, this took under 15 min, so even at the typical minimum shop rate, you will likely come in under what they charge for a replacement.
As for the clicking stovetop issue: The videos on youtube do correctly point out the cause, but unfortunately did not solve it (for mine, at least). In particular, the bottom burner base is what tends to warp the most and the sandpaper method is inadequate, as sandpaper tends to just follow the warped surface, and doesn't properly cut it straight. A friend who is a machinist threw it on the lathe, and after a few minutes spent aligning it properly in the chuck, shaved off a few thousandths, resulting a nice smooth surface. Not only did it resolve the clicking once and for all, I have also noticed that the flame is much more stable/consistent than it was even out of the box. I would also imagine that doing all four would be about one shop hour - definitely cheaper than replacement, and may even last longer (will update).
Here is one of the burner bases, post machining.
When our lamp went out several years ago, I purchased these (probably not from Amazon, but I don't recall where). It was really tough to find back then, so I bought a handful.
WSDCN E14 Oven Bulb 120V
Hope that people find some of this helpful! Also, Jose, the service tech at the NXR parts house (Duro Corp) is amazing. Extremely knowledgeable, and very friendly/helpful!
Q