The Dodge Challenger Message Board

I have been woried about the condition of my driver side front frame section in my 70' challenger, since I purchased it. the frame seems to have a foil with some type of grey paste (I am guessing a rust converter) wrapped about almost the entire left frame rail. All other sections are clean and have paint matching the factory color (did they paint the frames?).
I have driven the car, with no problems, but as I work on the car more and more, I become more worried about the condition of the frame rail, In some places the frame rail is nothing more than chunks of rusty metal held together with undercoating (I am not kidding!) and in others it is so thin that I can stick my finger through. I have deadlined the car for now, and I refuse to mess with it untill I figure out what to do.
I am guessing I will need most if not all of a new frame rail, Does anyone know where I can get one that is clean enough to save, or should I just go get one made at the local shop?
Thanks, Gerrad

Auto Rust Technicians 401 944 4444 makes Rotted Frame Repair Kits. I never used them but maybe they are worth a call.Their ad is in Mopar Collectors Guide.

First of all stop driving the car because it could kill you or someone else.

I can think of three options to fix this.

One is to buy a good cut-out full length section from a parts car (best option).

Next best is you can make some cardboard templates long enough to reach good metal at each end and get some steel plate cut to fit exactly over each side of the rail and weld in place.

Third option is to buy the pre-formed rail repair sections that weld over your existing rails. This may sound like it would be better than my second option but option two is cheaper and you can be sure of the size and fit.

In any case you had better check everything is straight before it is welded as it may have started to collapse already.

So If I get the Auto Rust Frame Cap which they say will restore the rail to full strength, and take the car to the collision repair, will they be able to fix any possible buckling in the car?
And being that the frame rail and all of the underbody is coated with a nice thick layer of undercoating, what am I to do about having next to no frame rail left when I strip it all of?

A good body shop should be able to pull the frame straight. They use hooks, chains, spreader bars and hydraulic jacks.

The undercoating is not holding your car together. It has no strength. You need to get it all off before you go to the bodyshop so you can see how bad things are and how much you need to weld.