I noticed when i got my coupe, the front left outer frame rail had a patch in it.  The bumper support bracket was welded to the patch and the frame.  As i prepare to drop a new motor in i decided to to investigate the patch a little further.  After cut the weld that was holding the bumper support, the bracket, along with the bolts fell right off leaving a hole you can almost put your hand through.  Obviously i need to weld on a new frame rail.  Structualy, i know that the shock tower is very important.  But can the frame rail be removed with the shock tower and inner aprons still intact.  Or do they need to come off aswell.  I have the front supported, and there isnt a motor in the car.  Any help would be appreciated.  

IMG]http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq322/yellow_stang03/rusty.jpg[/IMG]  

ok theres the pic so you can see what i mean.  To the right of the hole is a steel patch.  I cleaned it up by grinding it down before i decided to investigate further  

They sell the outer frame rail in either roughly a 24 inch section to repair that or a full length outer rail,the 24 inch would seam probably under your control arm you could do that without disturbing your shock towers.Gregg  

Thanks, since posting this, thats pretty much what i decided to do.  1st I cut out the rest of that other patch.  

then i fit another rail to it.  

And i finished welding everything together, along with some other patches last night.  I appreciate the reply.  

I'm doing the same thing on my 70 Mach 1,along with alot of other rust repairs.Gregg  

Its amazing, no matter what you do, rust never sleeps!