I haven't tried that exactly, but it shouldn't be too difficult.
I opened up a ps3 to repair the fan, unfortunately it was so flimsily put together a couple of components were wrenched out along the way. Had to get a new one fucksake, still not over it.
Anyway, the optical drive is quite easy to access, just find a YouTube video of someone tearing apart the same model as yours, it's pretty easy.
And get a compatible drive on eBay obviously.