Hi everyone! I Need some advise. I am in the process of taking apart my 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T project car I recently purchased to restore, and discovered a quarter size hole in one of the frame rail!! The frame rails all seem to be in pretty good shape except this hole which is situated on the rear drivers side rail, right in front of the tire. My question is, do I change the complete rail or is there a way to fix this problemo?

Thanks

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Tough call. If the rest of the rail is real solid I would weld a patch over the hole. I would make the patch at least 4 times bigger then the hole.

Sounds like a good idea to me!

Just another opinion here, but instead of simply welding metal over top of a hole, and since the unibody rails are likely available for this vehicle, wouldn't it be a better idea to cut out a section of the rail and properly piece in a new section? If I remember correctly, all unibody rails are a part of a vehicles structural integrity and can adversely effect the way a vehicle collapses in a collision should one ever happen. Since engineers have designed these unibody rails in a specific manner to collapse a certain way upon a collision, should one be welding metal in any fashion over top of a hole in a unibody rail and likely be causing a crush zone that was never intended for the rail and resulting in a possibly dangerous repair? Granted, welding metal over top of a hole like that may in fact be an easier repair and the chances that a collision would EVER happen with a vehicle that is not a daily driver such as this one are surely slim and none. But then there's that what if factor. You know, the what if you are sitting at a stop light and some drunken fool comes barreling down on you. He hits you at a high speed. Now this is when you realize that the chunk of metal splitting and coming through the floor board directly at you is your improper repair. I know the scenerio is extreme but it's the kind of thing that I have seen in real life on more than a couple of occasions. For the time, the money, and for overall safety. Why not buy a section of rail, do some research, and properly piece it in. Just my two cents.