When I got home from work, I noticed the missus EB was leaking a little coolant

So I got under and removed the stone guard to see if I could find the source of the leak and nearly crapped myself when I found this instead

<a href="http://s285.photobucket.com/albums/ll41/micknkell/?action=view¤t=IMG_0590.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll41/micknkell/IMG_0590.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s285.photobucket.com/albums/ll41/micknkell/?action=view¤t=IMG_0591.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll41/micknkell/IMG_0591.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s285.photobucket.com/albums/ll41/micknkell/?action=view¤t=IMG_0592.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll41/micknkell/IMG_0592.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Now at first I thought it was accident damage, but a quick call to my mate Bill and all became clear.
The EB had been fitted with an AU engine some 2 1/2 years ago by a previous owner from Sydney and as Bill informed me, it was common practice back then to cut the front support bar of the K-frame and ben it forward to clear the bigger AU sump.
As this is the missus daily, I'm not entirely comfortable with her driving it now I know about it
Bill suggested I cut the altered bar out and weld in another from the wreckers and shave the fins off the sump to achive the clearance, and I tend to agree with him.
Am I being paranoid or is this just really dodgy.
Any help appreciated!
Cheers.

I think you should just weld a flat piece of steel across it.

damn! that is dodgy isnt it!!! doesnt take a "chicken chaser" to see that is a majour week point now.. could try lifting the car up on a hoist and welding it up with some extra support over the join.. or could chop the whole thing out and replace it with a propperly modified cross member.. (probably a wise choise)...

Thanks for the idea's fella's
Or I could just do what I have been wanting too all along and throw the motor into the white EB (and do it properly first time ) and build it up....but the friggin missus likes the Cobalt blue....."I haven't had a blue car before"....bla bla bla

I'd be more worried about the seemingly large crank pulley seal leakage....

I noticed that as well....seems i'm only just starting to scratch the surface with the problems this car has.......on a good note, it does have ghia Leather/velour seats in pretty schmick condition

You could cut that section out - about a sump width - add some angle with the L facing forwards. Add some triangular mounts on the bottom face, weld it all up, and it should be pretty strong, and you'll have some extra clearance to the sump front.
Be a good mounting point for a stone tray to protect the belts, etc from crap thrown up from the road.

thats exactly what i did to my ea when fitting the au engine but i welded it back up after it had been bent forward..
and its not really a structual part of the k frame its more of a support to help with any flexing of the k frame..

Simply weld up the bottom for an easy dodgy option. Or do that then add flat strip over the weld.

Otherwise you could cut out the section in front of the sump, bend the remains back to std, then add a length of 50x25 in front, and weld all up. Now stronger than std.

If it was me i would degrease the are and see if the oil isn't hiding cracks or anthing. how handy are you with a welder? fill the crack hole with slag and weld a smal peice of flat bar. or get some same size rhs tube, measure the length of the oe bar and then bend the rhs to an angle were it would clear and not interfer with other componants and use the first measurement cut and weld it in place coat of black paint.

or do what bill said.

For your information the original bar is thick wall. To take a wild guess say 2.5mm? I'm not sure if it's commonly available from steel shops.

How did that get through the roadworthy when changing ownership?

we dont have to do that. except we have rego check every year

Even then, the inspector's/mechanics rarely go to that degree when inspecting the vehicle unless it is for a blue slip.
Because this is hidden by the stone tray and not visible from the engine bay, I would not have known either unless I removed the tray.
But this will be getting welded up very soon as a minimum. Thanks to everyone for sharing your advise. Much appreciated
BTW! The engine was not installed by the previous owner it was news to him as well, was installed when the bloke before him had the car, but Jason did get the car checked and the engine number recorded on the rego papers after he bought it, so assume it passed that inspection
Will also be attacking the engine bay with degreaser on the weekend to clean it up. It doesn't leak or use oil, so that should dissapear with a good clean.

by all means go buy as much 2.5 as you want works slow at the moment and i need some overtime