Ok.. So I decided to just have this mechanic change the fuel filter real quick for me being I have been swamped at work and well cant lie a little lazy so anyway.. He finishes it up and tells me that when he took the fuel filter off gas was running out and he said there was rust running out with the gas.. I didn't actually see it but what does this mean? How bad is this for the car? All he told me was that I should have the tank taken out and cleaned but if there is rust I am assuming its the actual tank that is rusted so I am thinking of replacing the fuel tank but curious how hard of an install would i be looking at as I am thinking of tackling this myself during a weekend.. Thanks

This is not a hard job at all and could easily be pulled off in a few hours by someone who's dropped one before. Take it slow, replace that gasket for the fuel pump during the changeover too. You'll easily have it together in a weekend.

Get it up, drop the rear end and unbolt the shocks and panhard (the springs slide right out, no fear of tension here) and keep jacking the body up away from the rear until you have plenty of room to get your tank out. Reverse to install.

It's easy if you do it with an empty tank, so get it as dry as you can first by driving down to an 1/8th of a tank or so, then siphon the rest out with a plastic bottle and some hose into a gascan.

Ok.. Well i have access to a lift.. So i assume that would make it a little easier.. what would you suggest to put under the rear to hold it up while unbolting everything.. also what exactly has to be unbolted?

If it's a side by side lift (the kind with arms that sit on your frame) that will be fine, just make sure to rack your car very level and very stable since it's a unibody. If it's a drive-on lift it will just be a bigger pain than it's worth.

What I said is exactly what you unbolt. Don't support the rear with anything. The front should be on ramps/jackstands. Get the rear of the car up (on the frame right in front of your lower control arm brackets) so the rear tires are just touching down.

Unbolt shocks & panhard bar.

Your rear will swing down (not really because the tires are on the ground, more like you jack the body up to where you need now while it can swing away) but it will stay located because of your lower control arms. Get jackstands under the back when you have enough room.

You can now easily unbolt the straps that hold your tank in place. Be careful for the lines on top of the tank as you lower it, and replace any rubber stuff you might find that looks aged, ESPECIALLY the gasket for the fuel pump.

the lift is a side lift.. i was just owrried because i remember doing my friends springs on his truck and we unbolted the shocks and the control arms or whatever and we had to have floor jack under the rear to lower it so it didnt just fall or whatever.. at least thats what i rmember.. I figured i would lift the car so you are able to walk under it and didnt know if something had to be under the rear to support it to take tension off while unbolting everything.. but i was just reading some older posts and its mentioned you have to remove the exhaust.. is this true?

If it's a 2 post lift, make sure you have the engine side on the shorter of the arms.

what do you mean exactly.. the lift has 2 posts.. but 4 arms..2 on each side which are extendable.. never noticed that one was shorter then the other..

He means to drive the car nose-first into the lift, then use the two short arms (the more forward arms) on the front subframe and the long arms on the rear subframe. It really doesn't matter for alot of other vehicles but ones with long noses and short rears like ours (or other odd dimensions) make it impossible to rack backwards safely on a side by side (I've done it when I worked at Aamco but we always used post jacks to hold it steady while under it)

If you do it on the lift you'll need a post jack (the kind that screw) under the differential to keep the rear from dropping, then just lower it with the post jack after it's all undone, the lower control arms will hold it all in place while you move it up and down.

Get someone else to help you with the tank, it will be a little bulky and awkward to pull out all by yourself if it's above your head.

It's a pretty straightforward job and I don't think you'll have any problems if you take it easy and use all the time you need to be comfortable.

Exactly, the lift should have 2 long and 2 short arms, extend them all out and see which ones extend much further

If you have a proper lift you can easily use it with our cars, never a problem. Just make sure you put the pads under the subframes,

Check this long arms rear, short arms front.



i can see how it seems scary at first, the car will move quite a bit if you for instance pull on a very tight bolt. Don't be scared, the 2 post lift is designed to do that. The most important part is simply to not have the heavy engine side stick out too far. I've had my stepside truck on it and as you probably area aware of, there is next to no weight in the rear of those (it's a suicide machine in the rain LOL) and all of it is up front with the cab and engine. Having that one on the 2 posts makes the camaro not so scary anymore

Try racking a corvette on a side by side, THAT is a scary affair. It's stable once up, but it's so flexy it moves alot with everything you do. Also... You have to make sure it's 100 percent level or it can do all kinds of stuff like crack the windshield or chip the paint on the door sills where the door edge will scuff the body. I've seen all kinds of messed up racks when it comes to corvettes.

Our cars, although unibody, aren't that bad though.

Never had a problem with vettes, C2,3,4,5....works just fine. The engine is placed poretty far back in them so they don't lean over quite as much. The C2 & 3 have a full frame, making them very easy to lift. The C5 has special holes for lifting blocks that you can use but i never did use those. The C4 is the trickiest since there is no real frame on them and it's all pretty far inboard. The C2s and 3s do flex quite a bit, lesson 1 ...don't open the doors, especially on convertibles.

If the windshield cracks the birdcage has issues...and a lot of them do.