I recently bought my 87 Iroc and found out that the previous owner did this to the trunk floor pan. Any ideas on whats the best way to fix it ? Finding a donor panel and getting it installed ? Or just having the current one on the car professionally welded back together ?

 

Looks like they started to cut it out and then aborted the task.
It can easily be welded back together, but you'll have to drop the tank first (for safety reasons)...

 

Ok cool. Hopefully the metal can still be saved I’m going to try and make it look like it was never there .

 

Since ... 1) it's already there, 2) no one will ever see it, and 3) it's not going to fall apart or ruin anything else about the car - why not leave it as is?

Someday (maybe tomorrow, who knows) it's going to give you 2 days of life in 2 hours!

Replaced pump twice on mine in last 12 or so years. 1st time I thought cutting car was silly and I gave up 2 days of life for a $35 pump. 2nd time around (older and wiser) I desired the 2 days of life more - I cut her open without hesitation and cussed myself for not cutting the access to begin with!

 

Because it makes the car less safe and reduces the resale value. You could lose a lot more than 2 days of life (as in ALL of it) if you were to get rear-ended hard enough...

 

The problem I see is with a 35$ pump.
Yes, any brand can and will fail at some point but since I've owned my cars (30years or so) I've only replaced a pump for more fuel volume, not due to failure.

 

Rear ended hard enough? Really?

OK, so that 4in x 6in piece of very thin sheet metal, that in this case doesn't even appear to have been cut on all 4 sides, on a car that is actually made of real metal and crash rated 35 years ago (maybe with 35mph bumpers instead of today's 5mph bumpers) - is going to make my hospital stay that much shorter in the event that I am "rear ended hard enough?" I guess we should all park our cars until such time as we can have this rewelded with extra support bracing. I'm 56, and I've worried about a great many things in life, but how my life may hinge on that 4in x 6in piece of sheet metal has never been one. Rather than going to such extreme reaches, can't you just simply state that your opinion errs on the side of ****?

Yes, maybe the OP has similar concerns about perfection (I doubt he considered rear ended hard enough) or else the question would not be posted. And so yes, I will apologize for even suggesting such drastic measures as "if it ain't broke don't fix it." And yes 5mph bumper cars may well have better and more quantity of safety restraints so we don't have to be concerned with our sisters, moms, girlfriends and wives being rear ended in plastic 2021 cars. AND I must add - kudos for being in the top 1 percent of people that does remove the carpet before purchase of a vehicle to check for such dastardly deeds.

In addition, as much as you folks may hate it, it is entirely possible that not all of us who worked 50 hours a week at $25k/yr jobs in 2007 while we paid $435/mo in child support to our ex for the one kid we never got to see, while feeding & housing an unemployed 2nd wife with 3 teenage boys that are not of our bloodline (or even of her bloodline) but loved just the same ... could justify a Walbro pump over an AC Delco pump at the time. Maybe there should be trust funds established so that no thirdgen ever has to endure Carquest parts again? Sorry, I've always just been a real guy, in a real world, with real problems that do matter. And I take a simple approach to everything in life that neither relies entirely on 24k gold or duct tape.

Actually, I have learned many things on this site over the last 15+ years about my beloved thirdgen. I've read about ways to do a great many things, good and bad combinations, and about good better best parts, methods and tools to use. I greatly appreciate the resource, and especially the sensible insights that most folks bring to the table. The one thing I did forget was that here, like everywhere else, the upper 1% should really get off their high horse and walk in the shoes of their fellow members who may well turn Harbor Freight wrenches in a gravel driveway with a flashlight in their mouth - yet still seem to make their cars shine at the show.

 

That's a bunch of irrelevant nonsense with regard to my previous comment, but do what you want with your car.
I won't be rednecking mine...

 

I agree with both sides but for some reason im just really crazy in love with this car. Its all orginal and this is pretty much the only flaw it has . Thankfully it looks like only straight cuts. I’ve been told by a professional welding company already that they can make it look like it never happened. Dropping it off Monday !

 

I agree . I would do an access panel for sure . But for this car i couldnt live with it. It has been bugging me since the day i saw it. I plan on getting a 4th gen Z28 in the future and that car i most likely will do an access panel of some sort. This third gen is my baby though ! lol

 

It's not the hole that's the problem. It's that the way GM routed the fuel lines from the sending unit, they are so long you're never getting the sending unit through the hole without cutting the lines. The way people patch the lines back together is the really dangerous part, the hole is just unsightly, and usually a red flag.

It doesn't take 2 days to change a thirdgen fuel pump the right way.

 

couldn't say it better, the above has always been the main problem for me. most patch panels are covering a set of steel lines spliced together with rubber hose and clamps, in a spot where a leak may go undetected.

patch the hole if you will, but installing a correctly plumbed fuel pump is my pet peeve.

 

Can of worms opened, never understood why this is such a heated topic here, your car do what you will with it.
In it's current form it's not really hurting anything to just leave it as is, but if it really bothers you your either going to want to replace the entire panel or weld the cut seams, either way the tank will need to be removed for the repair. If you decide to go the other route and continue the direction the previous owner started you could either purchase a Detroit Speed kit or make your own like many have on TGO.
DETROIT SPEED FUEL PUMP ACCESS PANEL KIT

 

Was there a discussion on how exactly they were going to make the repair?

 

The said they’ll remove the fuel tank then do the weld . And then sand it down. They said they’ll color match it too and add a protective coating under the pan to protect from rust and of that sort.

 

I mentioned to them that i found a donor panel on Ebay and i could get it to replace the whole thing and they said they could do that too if i wanted but it wouldnt be necessary in this situation.

 

It’s one of those things that GM should of designed into these cars but didn’t and for some reason it’s a very polarizing subject here. I’m pro access panel and to do it right there are certain steps I feel you should take but if your looking to keep the car as stock/factory as possible and it was a super low mileage car I would go the route of repairing the area like your doing.

 

66,000 miles and completely stock . ‘87 Hardtop 5speed. Keeping this one factory for sure. Its my sunday car . Thats why it bugged me so much when i seen the PO did this to it .

 

Well said.

I prefer my sending units not to be held together with rubber hoses and no flares. Yeah the lines 'can' be flared, but nobody seems to do that and for the time it takes to do all that, you can just drop the tank and do it the proper way. Dropping the tank and swapping the pump is an afternoon job.

 

I bought a new fuel pump and fuel tank too. Oem replacements with original metal lines. Getting installed after the weld job. I just want to have my car back already. It barely goes in Monday .

 

We need to see more pictures of this unicorn you got 😉
FYI on the new fuel tank, I believe more people have had problems with a replacement tank than people that didn’t, something funky with the neck not have the correct bends, some have even welded on the original neck on to the replacement tank, that’s why I opted for cleaning mine out and coating the insides.

 

Dam i wish i knew that ! its been having a strong gas odor on passenger rear end . I ordered a new gas valve it showed up last night . And i also heard it can be the fuel tank filler neck so thats why i ended up ordering a new one 😭 hopefully its a perfect fit!

 

I’m more of a Firebird guy, but she sure is pretty 👊🏼

 

Thanks bro ! 3rd gens FTW! 💪🏼 My pops drove me around in a few irocs growing up so i fell in love with them