Thanks for the reply. $5-7k is indeed bad news.
In the image above, is the frame you're talking about #1 or #2? If #2, you wouldn't say that it could just be hammered down a little to smooth it out? It doesn't seem to be very deformed (my very unprofessional guess). Hammering is what I had planned to do, but if that won't really be right for the car, then I'll get it fixed properly.