im replaceing a in-tank 3rd gen fuel pump and so far its been a pain saw soemthing on one of the topics about cutting a hood out for super easy replacment where the fuel pump is, well sence i havent fully started to do drop the tank just getting ready to do it i thoguht that this might be easyer, the question i want to ask is whre do i cut exactly? and how hard/ how big of a mess would this make?

 

You would have to use either a Dremel tool or air-operated die grinder with an abrasice cutoff wheel. Cut a large hatch opening making sure not to cut into the gas lines or tank. You also have to cut the 3 fuel lines and install rubber hoses with clamps on htem. Then make a new hatch cover from sheet metal or cut a larger one from another car silicone and screw it in place. I'm not a fan of doing it this way. I'll e-mail you some pictures I saved from a post on this a long time ago.

Lon

 

thanks alot that helps alot and probably saves me alot of effort y dont u like doing it that way? isnt it easyer?

 

That would destroy the integrity of the uni-body in the back of the car, remember we have no frame.

 

lol oh well that isnt a good thing now is it? well you could always strengthin that little area, wouldnt be as good as the oringinal but the hatch would make it easyer to swich the fuel pump if it ever broke again..... oh well guess its a trade off time to do what i always do when i need to make a tough desission like this now where did i put that quarter..... lol

 

If done right, you could put an access panel into the body without loosing the structural integrity of the unibody;BUT you would have to pull the tank first. Then after you cut the hole weld a frame around the hole tieing into the fender wells on each side.
essentially it would be like replacing the sheet metal between the fender wels with a sort of transverse subframe connector. Doing it right would require pulling the tank anyway, and then quite a bit more work. I'm thinking I might try it with my 85 IROC, but it won't be that much work for me because the tank is already sitting in my back yard while the car is in my driveway. I'm not sure yet, but the letter I was supposed to get from Lakewood telling me I had 30 days to get the car running has not arrived. If I don't get it by the first of the year, I'm going to go ahead with the buildup. There are quite a few neighbors with car covers on their cars. If I put a car cover on it, no one can tell it's condition while I work on it.

 

Its not the most wonderfull thing you will ever do on these cars,but its not that difficult.I did it in about four hours in my driveway.The important thing is to have the tank as empty as possiable.You have to be carefull taking the assembly out of the tank,but you dont need any special tools.I used the factory service manual,bought everything ahead of time and followed all the instructions.I used a brass punch to loosen the lock, and even that came apart easy and went back the same.Cutting an access hole seems like it would be a lot of extra work. Its not like you have to change the pump very often.

 

I wouldn't cut up the metal in the hatch area either.

There are 3(?) metal fuel lines that come out of the fuel tank on top and travel left for a couple of inches towards the drivers side of the car on top of the fuel tank. If you cut it, it's going have to be a rather large rectangular hole in order to get to the fuel sender/regulator assembly unit out of the tank to change the pump. The metal fuel lines and the fuel sender/regulator unit have to be removed as one assembly.

IMHO, I would do it from the bottom instead of cutting it up. I changed the pump on a '91 Z28 not to long ago and it really isn't that difficult if you go slow and take your time. Just make sure the fuel sender arm assembly doesn't "hang-up" on anything when you put it back together inside the tank again. Check, double check and even triple check for the proper fuel gauge reading before putting it all back together again. How do I know this?

 

yes, listen to him. i just took the time to replace mine the right way and after everything was back together i noticed my fuel gauge is sitting at empty
my question is how do you check if it's right before you put it back together?

 

Use an analog vtm(ohm meter) lifting the float up and down will make the meter act like your fuel guage.

 

I'll just say two words--- Spark..........Kaboom.

Food for thought.