I agree....that makes a big difference. From the low hanging trans pan I figured it was a drag car otherwise you'll have some "bottoming out" issues. But, back to the subject, if a guy/girl is running torsion bars and they seam weld the new upper cross member to the body it should help to transfer some of the twisting motion. Since the trans pan hangs so low and if you run torsion bars it would be pretty easy to make a belly loop from one side of the sectioned cross member to the other side reestablishing the connection between both sides...but that's another subject altogether???
I still think it's good concept, you just have to mitigate the issues that will arise depending on your application!!
I retained the great majority of my upper cross member then reinforced it (welded) with 1/8" plate on the top side:
Treblig