Removing the front panel is easy. On my boat, there are 4 screws, with finish washers, on each of the extreme sides. You need to wiggle it a bit to coach it out (push one side in, while pulling the other side out, etc. etc.) As Fred mentioned about the aft location, removing the panel just below the hatch/shelf, makes getting to the rear end of the engine easy. On my boat, that panel was screwed in place from behind, showing no screws from the outside. What I did was remove the existing OEM mounting screws (the way Catalina installed it), and attached the panel using screws and finish washers from the front. This makes removing the rear panel easy so you can do things like checking the ATF or anything else that needs to be done in that area. The screws with finish washers looks just fine (just like the front panel at the companionway steps!)