My rust bucket has just rusted out where the sway links bolt in to the frame. There is a big hole where the sway links used to bolt in. Do I really even need the rear sway bar?

Yes you need a sway bar!

It's important in the handling of the car- which becomes a safety thing if you ever need to dodge stuff falling from a truck, people cutting you off, running from the cops, etc.

www.mattblehm.com/suspension.html
scroll down to the bottom.

You could just weld a new plate of metal covering the hole and then get matt's sway bar links I have them but i suggest if your going to weld a plate you might as well weld the links to the plate while you are at it. They come with self-tapping screws but the choice is yours: Weld or screws?

Edit: speaking of swaybar's... Matt do you have a picture of your ST RSB right by your spare tire well. I have an addco sway bar and during some left turns it ends up barely hitting that metal piece on the bottom and makes a clank. I was wondering if the ST bar accounts for that with their design. If so, I found a killer deal on a Front and rear sway bar setup from ST, since i was planning on getting the fsb anyway.

Yeah, i'll try to see if a muffler shop can weld a plate around the hole. It makes a hidous metal clunking sound when i turn right. I've got too many other problems to deal with before i consider matt's kit (fuel leak under manifold, rip in cv boot, muffler fell off (now running a straight pipe) and the car is so rusted out it's probably not worth more than $500.

Same thing happened to me.. had that clanking constantly for a few days.. then eventually both links broke completely off and the sway bar swung down and just drug on the ground my whole trip home. I just took it off because I didnt have money to get it fixed, and that was over a year ago. So, I've been rear-swaybar-less for over a year now.. am I lazy or what