Steve:
I removed a portion of the original TV cabinet, but not the ones beside it. I also removed the padded panel below those cabinets. I did a complete removal of the cupboards above the passenger side chair and desk, when chasing that elusive leak that caused side wall rot. I found the same kind of attachments in both places.
The woodwork is not structural. All of the structural rigidity of the coach depends on the aluminum frame, to which everything else is fastened. Lots of screws in the wood and they are not always easy to find. eg. in the frame of the cupboards, there were several screws in screw pockets that were covered up by some other piece of woodwork, so you need to go carefully over the piece you are working on to be sure you have all the screws out before trying to remove the piece, then look for more, well hidden screws. I also found that the 120 v wiring was added after the cabinets were in, and the holes through which the wires passed were drilled without any attention paid to which parts of the cabinets were destroyed to get the wires through. In one place, a 3/4" hole was drilled through a 1"square corner support, leaving the lower portion of that support hanging on the paneling below it! Not to be too concerned about that, as 15 years had passed without a problem in that area.
In my Contessa, the front cabinets are attached to the ceiling, and are set back from the front cap, far enough to leave room for wiring chases for the sound system and TV wires to pass behind, all the way across. The padded panel below the cabinets is removable, so you can see better once it is out of the way, how the cabinet is attached to the aluminum framework.
Good luck with your project. Post pictures when done.
