If I understand things correctly....once it has been converted to the ESLA catagory does that not take it out of the catagory where the owner can take the 16 hour class to be able to sign off his own work?

All this stuff can get quite confusing. Isn't the SLSA the only catagory that a person can get a repairmans certificate, besides the EAB catagory of course, but that is for the original builder?
From my understanding the only people that can get this 'certificate' are for the SLSA planes and they have to be built exactly like the factory built/sold versions. Maybe there are exceptions, like getting a factory authorized change but this catagory seems quite restrictive. The benefit to the catagory is its ability to be used for rental/training, am I correct?

Besides the EAB catagory of course, but that is for the original builder.

Am I totally confused? Most likely!