stove clearances for firebox installation

[Jbutch80]

Hello all, Im new to the stove world and have a few questions. Actually i have lots of questions but im only addressing a few right now haha. This forum is a plethora of info that i plan to use extensively, so thanks to those in the know!! I looked through some previous threads and didnt see answers for exactly what im looking for here.

My wife and i recently bought a dutch colonial home built in 1837. We have 2 fireplaces in the front rooms of the house, each room is roughly 500sq ft with 14' ceilings. The fireplaces hadnt been used in at least 40 years, they had never even been lined. Upon inspection and estimation for repairs, we deemed it better for many reasons to install stoves and stainless flue liners. Structurally the chimneys are fine. They are about 35' tall from hearth to cap.
As you can see in the pics ive already demo'd the broken hearths and firebox floor and are reapairing and replacing with 1" thick black limestone

The stoves would not be a primary source of heat, only used to cut down on our natural gas consumption in cold winter months. We are looking at small north south stoves like the Jotul F602 V2, Morso 2B and Vermont Aspen C3

This seems like a dumb question so i apologize. But i dont want to assume with my inexperience and cause a possible safety issue.
Question 1. I see in all the stove specs clearance guidlines, does that matter when being installed in an existing firebox since theres nothing combustible? (the white surround and mantle in pic1 is actually stone thats been painted over, slate believe)

 

[begreen]

The clearances apply to combustible surfaces. In this case it looks like there would be none. The hearth protection still needs to be honored, which extends 16" in front of the stove door. When the insulated liner is installed there should also be a damper area block-off plate installed so that the stove heat stays in the room and does not head up the chimney.