The glassed-in sides feel solid, and losing the hydraulics is another reason to go that route, but I believe the average contortionist Nova owner could probably find a way to get access to wires and pipework via the side pocket opening.
Thanks for the offer to reprint the vents, I reckon they are going to be OK now, so I'm going to reprint 4 (with the thicker side-wall), I will do that when the dash-top arrives from poly-creation.