Two 5.25 drives

[S Austen]

1999, G4, 450, 10.2.8

I recently swapped the original CD drive in my G4, for a pioneer A06 
drive.  Now I'm considering trying to use the old CD drive.  On the 
www.xlr8yourmac.com site, there was a detailed and lengthly explanation 
of how to modify the 3.5 bay to accommodate a 5.25 drive.  However, I'm 
not that ambitious or skilled.  Is there a way to utilize the cables 
from the 3.5 bay, as well as putting the old CD drive in a box, i.e., 
turning it into an external CD drive?

I would imagine that if the cables were long enough, I could run them 
through one of the PCI slots in the back.

thanks,

Steve