Why don't the guys in the HIPO shop worry about welding in blocks and cross members and extra stuff?
They either don't know any better, or they just don't care what happens to a project once they get paid for it and it's out the door. Check out a big rig sometime- - - -every crossmember and bracket that's either welded or bolted to the frame is attached to the vertical part of the channel, never the top or bottom flange. All frames torque and flex due to road roughness, potholes, cornering load, etc. A weld bead, and sometimes even a bolt hole in a frame flange can be the beginning point for a crack.
Jerry