Not sure yet how much I need to cut it out. It will probably be this coming weekend before I can dig into it too far. I'm attaching a picture for reference. I need to cut off the unused portion of the stud (on the trans) that's hitting, then I can get a better idea of what's needed.
I was thinking about cutting out the "hoop" then making two wider flat hoops that would sandwich the cross member and get welded onto the cross member. These in turn would get boxed as well.