Firewall's Front Clip Support Bracket

I'm working on a '68 tub. The PO torched off the driver's side clip support bracket on the firewall:


The passenger side bracket looks like this:


I cutoff the remnants of the old bracket on the driver's side and made a cardboard template of the passenger side:


I expected the bracket on the driver's side to be a mirror image of the passenger side, but looking at a '70 jeep, the same bracket is used on both sides of the firewall. My question is, why is the passenger side bracket welded to the firewall, but the driver's side is bolted to the firewall?

Passenger side:


Driver's side is welded to the top edge, but the lower part is bolted to the firewall, not welded like the passenger side. Why?

 

There is a bracket inside the firewall on the drivers side. It is bolted with the hood hinge above and the three bolts you are looking at through the firewall. At least that is the way I remember it - I do not recall there being a similar bracket on the passenger side.

 

On my '60 the two brackets are exactly the same with the driver's side oriented the same as the passenger, not a mirror of it. Then the two rods go out to fasten to and hold the radiator/grill in position.

 

Yeah, there's probably something held on under the dash by those bolts. Plus the passenger side overlaps the firewall indent and can't be bolted.

 

I made a new bracket out of two pieces of 16g:


and tacked it into position after grinding off the remaining pieces of the torched-off bracket: