Help request: DIY 1u 4x WiiM Pro Plus rack + faceplate

[jeffme]

Hi - I'm hoping to build a 1u 4x WiiM Pro Plus case for a CI application, but need advice, so my fingers are crossed that I've come to the right place.

Here are the design goals:

• 1U form factor
• 4x (8ch) WiiM Pro Plus to match a 1U 8ch CI amp
• Airplay 2 support (rules out a possible Origin Acoustic CI 4x WiiM that has yet to pass FCC testing)
• 1 power plug & 1 eth plug to the 1u appliance to minimize rack wiring & save on rack switch port capacity
• Eth-only streaming - no wifi necessary

This is for a house-wide audio system with the need for 6 of these 4 WiiM devices, saving 6U over a 2 WiiM per 1U setup, which would be a big plus and might mean not having to get a second rack.

Does anyone have any experience with 3d printing custom face plates for rack-mounted solutions or advice on where to go to get a prototype built?

My hope is that we'd just need to replicate the port section of the Standard WiiM backpanel in a 4-wide setup. With a case, the WP+ is 5+ inches, but the PCBs and the backpanel ports are just under 4" wide.

The ultimate setup would be to un-clamshell the WiiM internal PCBs and get 8 WiiMs into a 1U rack setup, as I have no need for WiFi or Analog I/O, so the custom backplate could just expose the bottom half of the WiiM backpanel. Not sure what that would do for heating, though.

Thanks in advance for any help / guidance!

 

[jeffme]

Here is a concept diagrams, plus some measurements (mm):