One wire lock-up, 4 spd automatic w overdrive into A-body.

jbc426 said

I don't think the torsion bar crossmember has even one spot weld holding it to the floor transmission tunnel. I'm almost tempted to cut it and move it back a few inches to clear the transmission and then make my own crossmember extensions in the same shape as the original part and weld it solidly to the floor.

That would still leave me with the task of making a lower torsion bar mount brace and a rear transmission mount, but I bet overall it would be cleaner looking and a lot stronger than it is now or with a big chunk cut out of it.

Any thoughts you Treblig or anyone with any engineering experience?

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Yes you could cut it out completely BUT....I don't know if the tunnel stays the same shape all the way back. In other words, the radius of the tunnel might change further back so the upper cross member that you remove may not fit. Besides if you want to use the upper cross member portion to support the tranny then you're going to have to cut well past the 4 bolt holes (2 per side) to make it wide enough and strong enough. That's going to leave you with a large piece to replace into the original spot. You would also have to put end caps on upper cross member portion so it would look nice, I would use a "L" shaped cap so that you'd have even more material to attach to the floor helping to stabilize it.
Weren't you planning on using stiffening bars from the cross member to the rear? If you do that then you can attach your tranny mount to those anyway. I guess it all depends on how many resources you have available to manufacture things and how much time you have. I mean look at all the manufacturing I did before I even lifted my car off the ground!!! LOL

Treblig