Total Case Overhaul

Alright I’m starting to lay some plans out for a "total case overhaul" I’ve got an old 3dcool tornado case... now I use water-cooling and I took the 2 120mm fans out of the side wall.. I’m going to cut that into a window, put some plexi-glass or something there, add a few lights, blah blah blah blah

Now I have a couple of questions for you case modding gurus... I have a full tower case so it has the bar that rubs right up against the side panel so that when I can't attach the plexi-glass behind the metal like I wanted to... do you think its save to just hack off about a 3/8" of that bar.. (Not deep enough to affect the CD-Rom or HDD bays, but enough to allow the plexi to fit.) Also I was wondering about fan placement for case temps... I’m going to be drawing cool air in from the front of the case to pass through the radiator I was wondering if I should just use exhaust fans on the back of the case or should I go ahead and put a fan on the side panel or a blow hole?

I'll have before and after pics to post at a later date... ATM I’m still just drawing lines w/ my pencil to see how I want things to be laid out.