Paul ... you know who's probably got a lot of insight on that subject is Gord Harris ... the founder of this Group ... he had a 36 DCS for a long time and did lots of work on it to preserve / restore originality.
He
may drop in on your thread here (he seems much more focussed on the
Facebook site these days, plus, I believe his brother got his 36 DCS in 2014, so, he may no longer be as engaged vis-a-vis Uniflites as he once was), or, you could try approaching him directly (should be possible through the Facebook site or try messaging the Administrator of this Group [unifliteworld(at)googlegroups(dot)com]).
I know what you mean about engine hatch access ... I've had to remove my pre- exising, non-stock furnishings (with the exception of the original Hi-Low Table) for a protracted period of time now as I have to get at the 6-71N's in my boat more often than not ...
Kevin Mc
'79 42 DCS, KATHY ANN