Hello Jonathan,
I have puzzled over your post fir a while now and I'm still not sure that I fully understand what you are asking.
First of all at Kursk you will have a Ferdinand and not an Elefant. Not much difference you may say, but there might be a bearing with regard to the radio equipment and where it is.
Second, in a Ferdinand to the right of the driver sat the radio operator. So I don't see how the radio equipment could be installed to the left of the driver. It couldn't be further away from the man intended to use it.
This link should take you to a site where someone has documented his build of a Ferdinand with a fully detailed interior. Unfortunately it is in Spanish (I think!) but the photos are very self explanatory
link
Looking at where the radios are in the above link it seems obvious that they would have to move them in order to fit a machinegun in the Elefant. But where they went I don't yet know. To the left of the driver just doesn't seem right.
Is your model a plastic kit? Are there no instructions, or can't you search the web for them? What do you mean by the backside of the instrument panel?