I was thinking of using PCB pin block - I’m pretty sure you can get them with the right spacing for IDE cables, and with pins long enough on one side that they could be pushed through a casing and still have a connector attached.
Clearly you don’t want to do anything to the case while it’s still on the drive. The plastic box approach may be the way to go. Just remove the case in a fairly clean environment. Minimal contamination won’t wreck the drive mechanically, it may create read errors though. But you shouldn’t keep any real data on the modified drive anyway. I’d try for a drive like type 1 that also allows a side view also. And, if you remove metal casing, check for components that may be grounded to it. You could reinsert the screws with a loop of thin wire running between them to make sure everything attached that way is grounded.
Just popping in to say that I bought a Shuttle on eBay a few months back to replace my defunct Linux server. It not only came with a snappy custom blue paint job, but it has one of those Raptor clear-window drives right on top inside the case.
If I remove the computer case, I can gaze all day at the drive as the head zips back and forth with amazing speed. It really is mesmerizing. And I think it’s an interesting visual teaching tool for showing people how hard drives work.
I’ve been unimpressed with the reliability of 10K drives in general, and the transparent cover on the Raptors supposedly made it worse. My old computer was cool thought, it was an Antec case where you could easily see the top of the drive. As “drive activity” LEDs I had some bright red LED spotlights shining on the top (connected through an opto-isolator). The rest o the case had UV reactive components with black light CCFLs.