So I have a metal panel under the SL1 about where the rear drivers side door is located. The one side has rusted through, so now it is dangling and dragging. What is it there for? Any suggestions on how to deal with it?

 

So I had some time and jacked up the car. It was a metal piece that went between the two gas tank straps. It just slide out from under the one it was still under. Problem solved, albeit, at the cost of no longer having the tank protected by it, but that protection would be questionable in my mind.

 

Yah, I'd try to get to a junkyard and find another plate if I were you. It's unreal how easily a gas tank can get punctured.