Jaws vs. Torsion Bar Crossmemer.... Suggested Fix ???

The last owner of this 69 dart let the car in the water with Jaws.
The result was half of the width of the torsion bar crossmember was eaten away on the drivers side.
No....the last guy that owned the car said he got it this way.
I think they may have been trying to stick a manual trans of some sort in it. My problem now. I plan on putting in a 440 with a 727 automatic.
Does anyone have any good suggestions or ever come across this problem before. I have a few ideas , but I wanted to see what you guys thought.
My Ideas.
1) I could replace the entire torsion bar crossmember. Someone in my area has one for sale at $150. A good fix , but very labor intensive.
2) I could fabricate some sort of brace that contoured the tunnel portion of the xmember from the trans support hole to the other trans support hole and weld it in place.
Any help would be appreciated !