This afternoon I called to see the guys that will be replacing the chassis cross member. Discussed option for having them remove & replace the extreme rear of both chassis rails. The manager doesn't feel there would be any problems doing this, so that will hopefully be the 'end' of that.
If this is done as above, the pintle brackets can be placed back of the cross member bracing plates. That means I won't need the guys to make the holes in rear of bracing plates align with the corresponding holes in bottom of pintle brackets. They are same diameter and exact same spacing to one another. With extra room available, that potential difficulty can be avoided entirely.
One minor hiccup in all this, is that the newly employed fellow that does the sandblasting is off work with an acute illness. He may be back early next week, but this won't be known
until next week. I spoke with one of the managers and offered to do the blasting myself if they showed me the basics of their particular blasting setup. This may be a valid option, as I have used a commercial sandblaster in past, but they may still be cautious about my suggestion! At least that would not take another employee away from their work just to attend this relatively low return task. Time will tell.
P.S: David D., those parts arrived this afternoon. Much appreciated for your help.......again. 
Boom shanka!