My post about the repair kit was a mistake. I thought the issue was a water leak under the Hydro/Aqua Hot. That said, I took that panel off several time to track plumbing, leaks and cables.
The first time I took it apart, I carefully replaced all the caulking. That was a mistake! Once I cleaned up all the calking on the second panel removal I didn't replace the calk. After that, access was much easier.