Just my opinion, but I think by the time you get done messing around with modding that shelf unit to use it as a lidless rack setup you will have just as much effort spent, if not more than, if you just built the rack out of melamine or something. And I have two racks now and will be building two more soon out of melamine. Not the most fun stuff to work with, but I can't find suitable x-pvc in my area.
P.S.- I have the same or close to the same metal shelves setup as a 41qt rack using lids, and it works just fine. I just hate having to deal with the lids, hence the build.