Don't remove it completely- - - -it also provides very necessary support for the rear spring hangers and you'll end up with serious frame flexing if it's gone. A couple of 1/2" steel plates with a piece of heavy wall 2" square tubing like a trailer hitch uses welded to them makes a good substitute, and allows more clearance for the bellhousing without seriously compromising ground clearance.
Jerry

"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!