Advice on dash layout

[wmhjr]

can you use maybe .125 thick aluminum on the back panel and counter sink screws in it into the metal dash so that it is caring the load and not the plastic part? You can then bond the exterior finsihed piece over it to cover the screws. That is how mine is constructed.

Not really. If you look closely at the bezel in one of the pics I showed earlier you can see the upper screws are in the "lip" or "front top" of the bezel. There would be no aluminum there. When you move back to where the AL would be, you would be screwing into the exposed top of the metal dash - so the screws would mar the top surface of the dash. I suppose it's possible I could figure out where and weld mounts underneath the top surface, but I'm trying not to make this a ridiculous project. Plus, it would be REALLY REALLY hard to get at those screws then. The back part is not covered by anything on top. The metal is exposed. The dash pad is actually relatively small and I don't think it would help to hide any of this stuff.

The real problem is the original design of the dash bezel on these things. I don't want to completely eliminate it - that would mean custom forming of the entire enclosure.