Chesapeake -
My old v20 switch panel I made from a 1/8" (12" x 24") fiberglass sheet from McMaster Carr.
www.mcmaster.com page 3341. The cost was around $25 including shipping.
Don't really know about best practices for wiring because I bought a prefab job and used the switches/fuses in the new panel and I only had two gauges. Yamaha Tach and Fuel gauge (later replaced with Navman)
I'll try to look around for ya.
