Banquo,
I have the sheet under the platter as Halcro described. I also covered the entire interior of the chassis with the 3m product as I described along with the underside of the rim (which is how I describe the silver ring that the controls are on), and of course 80% of the tin can at the bottom. I couldn't be happier with that work.
Another thing that I did more recently is to put steel/neoprene washers between the motor and the chassis. I realized that the chassis is actually a plinth of sorts as the motor and bearing are self-contained and supported by the chassis. So the table isn't really nude after all.
The new washers replace a double layer of steel and copper washers that were there. Most TT motors that reside inside a plinth (both idlers and belts) are shock mounted, now mine is too. If anyone wants instructions on how to do this, let me know. Highly recommended.
As for your open bearing area, no big deal - I recently reopened mine to measure the ball bearing so I can replace it with a ceramic ball (it is 4mm - considerably smaller than I remembered). I refilled it with Mobil One. I don't think it matters which synthetic oil you chose - any good one will run in a car engine for 10 - 15,000 miles without breaking down so a turntable won't ever effect it.
My TT-101 is running better than ever. Starts right up from a long hiatus. Don't ask me why. Makes me smile.