I just got a good deal on the previous generation Mini (2.0 GHz Core2Duo, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB HDD). I've also got rev. A Bondi iMac with a dead A/V board (power cuts out as soon as the display tries to kick on) and a 15" Dell LCD display with a cracked case. Here's the plan:
1. Gut the iMac and the LCD
2. Mount the LCD in place of the iMac's CRT
3. Mount the Mini inside the back part of the iMac shell
4. Run USB, Firewire, and audio cables to the side of the iMac (where the original ports were located)
Part 3 seems to be the trickiest. To keep the look of the iMac, I'd love to get a tray-loading SuperDrive (do they even exist?) or even just a tray-loading combo drive (probably not going to be burning many DVDs with the Mini). Either of these would involve (at the least) creating a mounting bracket for the optical drive (not that big a deal, I think) and extending the drive cable. I know my MacBook Pro (late 2007, 2.4 GHz model) has an ATAPI optical drive, so I'd imagine the Mini still uses the same type (are any Macs using SATA optical drives yet?). If that's the case, someone may already make an extended cable I could use. Any ideas?
-Chad
At least the unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros are, as well as the current Mac minis, and I believe the recently-refreshed iMacs also do.
If you can get a picture of the cable used in your mini for the optical drive, it's much more likely we can try to track down a longer version (if one exists).
Stick a Firewire or USB hub in there and use a Firewire or USB optical drive, or a SATA/ATA drive and a FW/USB converter board?