How in the heck does the rear plastic panel come off, that surrounds the tail lights and also is part of the lower rear quarters? it looks like i need to remove the flat black panel under the tail lights.

Which part are you trying to remove? I'm confused.

Are you talking about the part right above the exhaust pipes or the part on the rear bumper or the rear bumper itself? I'd check www.lxforums.com or www.challengertalk.com for someone that can probably help you more specifically. Here's a photo, maybe you can edit it and point out exactly what part you're talking about?

If you look at the photo, you'll see the outline just forward of the tail light and the plastic panel extends down to form the lower qtr panels. if you look at your rear photo of the tail lights their is another separate (black) panel just under the tail lights and it looks like it covers the fastners used to hold the main panel i want to remove, so i can cut out the trunk without damaging the plastic. I'll have to edit my photo as it's too big. I was trying to show a side shot of the qtr panel.