Seeing that the floorboards had rotted out of the Dodge Challenger that Dylan McCool has been grinding on for a while now isn’t a shock. Not that Chrysler products aren’t known for rusting in the first place, but for some reason E-bodies really let themselves go when a bit of moisture and a bunch of neglect come into play. A floor can be patched. The trunk can be patched. But what about the frame rail? Yeah, the Challenger wasn’t going to come back to life that easily. The right rear framerail had rotted from the upkick to the very back of the car, and needed to be replaced, and of course, the trunk floor was gone…like just about every other Mopar of this era usually has happen.

Patching up the trunk (or the remainder of the floor in the interior) is simple and straightforward: cut out bad, measure, measure again, weld in good, seal up and call it done. But the framerail? Unless you are under vehicles every day, every week, that sounds like the point in time where you back off and call an expert, doesn’t it? Screw it up on an E-body, and you’re looking at the leaf spring hangar mount being in the wrong place. No bueno. Luckily, the entire framerail isn’t rotted…only about half of it is. So follow along as Dylan keeps putting that death wheel to use in the removal of rot and gets prepared to give the Challenger a rail job.