Bill,
1st off I would like to thank you for your books, i have both and like both of them.
I have done cars that bad or worse in the past. Cars so bad mounting them on a rotisserie would of folded them up. I used to work off jack stands but now use a frame table. The ability to have fixtures on the table to hold items securely really makes the job faster and more accurate. I would never go back to the floor again.
I like Kerrys idea of adding on to the replacement panel and then installing that. If the replacement is a good part
Tom