Modding an old mini case

[Berethorn]

In addition to my main computer listed in my sig, I have an old emachines etower 500is. I plan to upgrade my new rig with a new CPU and Ram. That'll leave me with a still-nice AMD2400+, and some PC2700 memory. I'll want to stick that into the old emachine. It'll need a new motherboard, but I can keep the hard drive and optical drives, plus the floppy. I also want to keep the case. The trouble is, it's a mini-atx, at least that's my guess. It's 13.5" x 7.5" x 13.5". I think the case only has one fan, not visible from the outside. That was fine for a Celeron 500, but I'll need some better cooling for an AMD 2400+. I may be able to cut a hole in the side and put a fan in there. Are there any other cheap cooling methods? I'm worried about the PCI card holes and i/o interface plate lining up too. I have no experience in this, are they likely to work, or will I have to use a saw?

My questions are:

Is it possible to fit a mini-ATX motherboard into this case, and can I get a new power supply that will fit?

Am I crazy, or does this have a chance of working? It may be a fun project. I know it's alot easier to go out and buy a new case, but lets pretend that's not an option.

[Berethorn]

Any opinions?

[JPMiller]

The trouble with E-machines and the like is that there are no absolutes... most likely your idea will work fine...
sounds like a fun project actually.
you will most likely want to swap out the stock PSU if you can as the original is probably underpowered for your new setup...
I would definetly put a side fan in the case and see what you can do elsewhere as well. Air flow will be a big issue with those cases.

[Berethorn]

The current PSU is 120W. From what I can tell, the best micro PSU that can be found is 250W, and I'm not sure even that is enough for a full AMD system.