68 custom dash - safe to cut a hole or not???

i have just bought a double din sized head unit car stereo for the bird and im trying to think of where to put it. the main place i can see is on the passenger side dashboard ' the plain area above the glove box , left of the air vent but im curious as to what is behind it as im going to have to cut a rather large hole . does anyone know what is behind this area and / or does anyone have a spare black dashboard for sale ????

heres a pic of the area im on about - note this is a pic of my 69 not my 68, my 68 has bucket seats and no centre consol.

If it were me, I would find a way to install the radio closer to you, closer to the driver's seat. A severe headache will occur when you have to keep reaching across your car to adjust the radio!

AND, you definitely do now want to try cutting through that vinyl pad. I had a friend completely screw up a dashboard because his rip-saw caught on the soft vinyl and ripped it perpendicular to the line he was cutting. Mmm, pretty to look at, let me tell you!

I can pretty much guarantee you that fabricating metal brackets to hang the radio from underneath the dash will be less time-consuming, less cussing, and better to look at. If not hanging from the dash, then have it mounted on brackets above the transmission tunnel hump like they used to do with stereos and even c.b. radios.

Forgot to add, yes, there will most likely be some tubes for the heater and defroster, and if I am not mistaken, your heating unit will be behind the dash on the passenger side, so there's one more reason not to hack into that area.

Won't it fit in the console?

well i have put it under the dash where the ashtray was, going to make a centre consol now and its starting to take shape. will finnish it with black leather to match the trim and a little pc fan to keep it cool.
its all in place now though and its great!