FOLLOW UP
This iMac had two power problems:
1) the power button on the back plate gone
2) the power switch on the logic board de soldered.
I isolated the power button with insulated tape, re-soldered the switch and then soldered two wires from the brass pods (see pictures) and routed outside the case through the vented grille.
Now I can power the iMac by shorting the two wires.
This is a temporary solution because this iMac has also some random and rare video artifacts that are sign if a dying GPU.
Nice experiment though.