Atwood 8012-II Side Discharge

[wetcoast]

So my old 7912 furnace apparently needs a new gas valve and circuit board, which are no longer sold.

So I picked up a used Atwood 8012-II and now read that the manual say Front Discharge only. It seems like it could be easily reconfigured for side discharge by punching out the side, where it is stamped to be removed and adding a front cover plate but the 1997 manual says this model can't do it. I really don't want to change the configuration. Is anyone running the Atwood 8012-II with side ducts?

Thanks