Zeus panel backseat sheetmetal replacement questions

[Shuie]

Shortly after I bought my '73 I discovered this:



Long story short, restoration design does not currently make replacement panels for this area of the car. There is no estimate available as to when they will tool up to do so. My only option for replacing this area at the moment is to either fab and weld the area up, or to find a donor car to cut the section out of. Donor cars are not easy to find here, so fast forward to today:





The material is between 18 and 20 gauge galvanized. Not exactly liteweight or nice to weld, but it should work OK.

my questions:

What do I attach the transmission mounts to now?

Is there any benefit to cutting an access panel from the seat area, ala JackOlsen's car, if Im going to run a conventional tortion spring suspension. Is access to the tranny and fuel pump from the inside of the passenger compartment of any value, or would an access panel in this car be more of a 'wow' kind of thing without coil overs? Will this help at all with engine drops or installs in the future?

Should I forget about the idea of the access panel and just add some stiffening beads to the metal for use as a parcel shelf?

Here's a pic of Jack's car for reference:



Any help is appreciated

[Shuie]

Any help? Any thoughts?

Tyson, what did you hook the tranny mounts to in Jack's car?

Would it be too much of a hack job if I riveted the galvanized panels to the car instead of welding? Im a little hesitant to start burning this stuff since its a confined area. This area is non structural, right?

Thanks !