The idea I have now is this :
Eagle dash, delete the black plastic surround that holds the headlight / wiper switch / gauge cluster
Fabricate out of metal (or wood) a flat oval shaped plate (with screw tabs) that would slide into the same spot with the appropriate screw downs to attach it to the dash. Cut out the spot for the gauge cluster and information center, as well as a replacement hole for the headlight switch (wipers are on the column for the XJ).
Since the XJ cluser is larger than the Eagle one, this would pull it out a bit from the metal steering column brackets and give it a cleaner look.
For paint I was actually thinking Rockguard since it would nicely mimic the textured plastic in the stock surround.
I would like to do this in metal, but wood would be a lot cheaper and easier to get right. Once I had it done I'd use it as a template for sizing, etc, so I could eventually replace with metal.
For now, once I have my dash in, I'll be wrapping a towel around the gauge cluster and stuff and making sure it stays there until I can get the next step started.
Go me.