My electrical panel is mounted on plywood which is secured by 4 nails into a stud and the top 2×4.
I want to drywall this last bit of wall. Can I pull those nails and temporarily prop the panel on something while I drywall? Do I need an electrician? Should I leave it alone and drywall around it? What should I do?
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You don't say what size or gauge the studs are, but regardless, any reasonable stud is more than adequate for the weights involved. I'm not fully clear on what your connections really are, but in general they sound adequate. Are you sure the bulge occurred during the installation and wasn't always there? Drywall walls are rarely perfectly flat when checked with a straight edge. If the bulge were caused by the installation, it is probably the screws pulling the adjacent stud out of plumb due to some misalignment with the other studs and/or the mounted devices.
Metal studs are rather elastic, it doesn't take much side load for them to deflect a few mm. Despite my uncertainty of what you actually did, I'm fairly sure you have no structural issues and do not need to worry about anything failing.
Try using this - I think it is called barrington bars or something. But cost like a $1 and works well for old work no need to redo the box.
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Best Answer
I would leave the panel as is on the plywood and install drywall right up to the edges.
Before installing the drywall carefully sneak some lengths of 1x3 or 1x4 pine boards up under the edge of the plywood with about half of its width exposed. Then screw through the face of the plywood into the pine boards in a few places to secure them in place. This will provide a decent edge to then secure the edges of the drywall to when you fit it into place butted up near the plywood edge. You might want to consider slipping some plastic end cap over the edges of the drywall before sliding the sheet in place. This would protect the edges of the drywall and provide a more finished edge to mud up against.
If the boards are installed carefully you should be able to avoid ripping away the poly moisture barrier. You may also need to do a bit of cleanup regarding that mess of coax cables.