.....the trans crossmember tonight.
Before any mods.
Before doing any cutting I stood the crossmember up in my 6" bench vise and straightened out the tips. Note the series of punch marks where I plan to start drilling some holes.
I used a drill that was about the same size as the width of my cutoff wheel to drill the holes. A quick slice with the Sawzall across the end and I'm ready to use the cutoff wheel.
The cutoff wheel work goes quickly and accurately since most of the material on my cut line has been removed by the drilled holes.
Next another trip through the bench vise to bend and straighten out the flanges and make them even with the bottom of the crossmember. Finally I used the vise like a press and flattened out the ends.
That's all for tonight, I'll fit it up under the car to check for fit and cut some filler pieces next.