Have you thought of mounting the dash on the lower A pillar screw? Also you could mount the Sunpro gauges in the console and put the ashtray back in and place your Ipod in there when listening to music with it plugged into the radio.
I like the location of the gauges, keeps them high enough to be in eyeshot while driving, and as for the first question - that makes no sense to me, maybe I am missing something.
My buddy Joe has some plans for adding to the console, like a little "pocket" area to the passenger side of the shifter housing to hold my phone (which houses my music files and Pandora :)) and possibly even a cup holder or two. Right now, it is in there to get the stereo in place, and once the amps are in place, who knows what we will do.