If I had that problem, I would replace my aluminum plate clamped to the tailstock barrel with a small aluminum plate glued to a super (ie neodymium) magnet. Of course, you would still have to remove said item in order to remove your center but lifting a magnet would be a lot less trying than unclamping my plate.
The DI spring exerts negligible force so you wouldn't have to worry about it moving the magnetically anchored plate.
I can anticipate one potential problem with this idea. While turning ferrous material, swarf may stick to the magnet. If that becomes a problem, a second idea is to replace my bolt-activated clamp with a cam-operated clamp to make application and removal easier.
Another possibility is, instead of tapping your center and adding an extension, simply glue a short plug onto the end. It's not under any stress when the center is in use and only mild compressive stress when the center is being ejected so any good glue should work.

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