Well, no doubt your welding skills are pickin up too, so there's "THAT". I'd be willing to bet you could mod a factory transmission cross member with some more like material and make it more substantial. What is it like 1/8 sheet metal? That stuff can be very strong when the proper angles are used. The stock ones are very strong.....ONCE they are bolted in place. That's the beauty of it. Each individual piece is rather weak by itself but once assembled, it's all a very strong unibody. If I were you, Iwould start with a stock cross member and see what you could do to modify the center to accept the new transmission without compromising integrity. Just remember that what you have "on the table" may not look strong, but engineer it to be strong like the stocker when assembled.......if any of that makes sense. It'll also be a lot lighter too, with the same type metal as the stocker. ....at least that's how "I" would try to approach it. It will ultimately be less work too, I believe, than re-engineering a whole nuther cross member. JMO.
