What is this strap/bar on Aussie K-member?

I think it Bolts to the back of the frame for the power steeing pump or indeed to the back of the case of the pump

which was the round style crap one

basicaly the pump mounted up on a triangulated frame on that side of the engine with a big bolt running front to rear and the end of that bolt went through the end of that strap
to provide a support or strut-rod type, tension reaction, so that the belt tension didn't pull the pump out of alignment

it will be an aussie factory addition to standard spec to stop your average aussie country mechanic tensioning the belt to the point where the pump pulley was no longer parallel to its crank pulley. i.e twising the mounting scaffolding for the pump beyond recognition

everything needed to be robust and easy to fix by a man who's toolbox consisted of stilsons mole grips A very big hammer and a massive screw driver used mainly used for removing the lid from tins of paint.

Austrlian cars often had extra bits added on the production line to guard againts impact of harsh conditions or blokes with big hammers who lacked the average guys mechanical sympathy. Anything to avoid the warranty claim

Dave
If you’re going to give us Aussies a misguided serve, can you please at least spell “Australian“ correctly!