Hey Dean,
I know you were leaning toward a new pan but my 2 cents is weld that bad boy up if your welder says it is an easy fix. Each situation is different but I would not be against repairing and running on my own car if it all checked out OK. You will have to bling out what ever direction you go so you can max out the score card at Force's next get togethe. Hmmm?
I have started to use Jet-Hot on my
oil pans with the possible bonus of extra
oil cooling. Jet Hot would also be a good sealer but it would not seem to be any better than powder coating to that end. I ceramic coated the
oil pan, intake manifold and the aluminum timing cover on my own engine. If it does nothing for cooling it has made keeping thing clean a breeze, especially the intake manifold.