As I restore my '53, I too noticed this brace can be a real pain, and I know that I will be under the dash in this area more than once. So, I welded the bolt heads into the firewall so they can be smoothed, bought another brace, cut the original brace in half, the new brace into 1/3 and 2/3. I connected the 2/3 and 1/2 brace together, overlapping it a bit, and then bolted in place of the 1 piece brace. So when I need to, I can remove the brace when needed by removing the center bolts first, then the ones under the dash.
