I just ran out to the garage and miked the dash from Brookville, and it reads .046", which is close to #16 gauge. It has a double thickness of steel along the bottom1" flange that turns in towards the firewall. I went online in a couple of hotrod forums asking the same question about mounting the column drop directly to the bottom lip of the dash, but was strongly advised against doing so by professional builders. They all said that the dash will flex under the stress of torquing on the steering wheel at low speed (as in parking) and eventually crack. I am a big old guy, and getting in and out I will probably be pulling on the top of the steering wheel. The final and deciding factor was that the Brookville dash is on about a 20 degree angle at the point where the steering column connects with it, and a purchased column drop is square on top, without enough meat above the hinge point to trim it on an angle to meet the dash. I know that Horton recomends a 30" column length, and he may be right. I have yet to connect the steering column to the Vega box, and things are extremely tight between the universal joint at the box and the pipe exiting from the rams horn exhaust. I may have to put a straight coupler on the Vega box and move the universal back about 3". If I do, I may have to shorten the column a bit. My theory on buying the longer column was that it doesn't cost any more, and I can shorten it at the bottom easily if I have to, whereas if I bought the 30" column and it was too short, they are damn hard to stretch 2". My column exits thru the toe board as high as it possibly can without hitting the rear of the exhaust manifold. (that toe board is all custom, and does not match an original model A toe board).