Thanks to GR89rs (iirc his name) I had the opportunity to fix a massive hole in the rear deck. This is how dumb people change the fuel pump:




I kept putting off fixing this till this weekend. I had to swap the rear anyway so i figured now was the time. Went to the junkyard and cut out what I needed:



Cut out the bad stuff:


got to work on putting in the new panel:








And now I'm done




and here is the pic of the new rear. Almost done.

 

hey when i put my d44 i noticed that the tq arm is REALLY close to the tunnel because of the (off center pumpkin? i know the ds axle is shorter...), and it hit's the fuel/brake line bracket in the tunnel. i am lowered 2" and have a crossmember mounted spohn tq arm so i assume thats my problem, so i guess i'm wondering if you are you having any similar issues?

 

Nicely done.

 

Oh man. I haven't gotten that far. I hope I don't have those issues. If I do I will let you know. I have a welder, cut off wheels, hammers.. and will travel so I will make it work no matter what.

 

Thanks Chris.. this car is forcing me to get better and better at welding and fab work.

 

Installing the torque arm (BMR adjustable crossmember mounted) was difficult because it IS close to the fuel/brake line bracket but once it was in place, there appeared to be sufficient clearence. I'm also using 2" drop springs (Intrax). To help the install, I adjusted my panhard bar to the full passenger side position so as to open up a little working room. I also dropped the axle as far as possible (to the limits of the shocks). Other than that, there have been no issues.

 

Looks good Pablo.

Esp the interior

 

Kicking a$$ and taking names! Looking a lot like a race car there babe

 

nice set up! if you ever do an ls swap itll be a good idea to do one of those doors to get to the fuel pump assembly lol

is that jerrys differential?

 

Gosh, now that someone mentioned the "hole in the trunk" issue, I feel deep pangs of guilt for modding my 87 IROC to swap the fuel pump with hand tools in 15 minutes. It's not what the GM bible intended us to do. I was more faithful with my 92 5.7 when the fuel pump died while driving through Death Valley, as I took it to Las Vegas and $1300 later had a new pump with a lifetime warranty - and no hole in the trunk. Imagine the trauma of carrying all this guilt and moral degradation on one side - and the elation of not spending big bucks. Maybe if I could weld as nice as Pablo, I'd consider putting aside the plasma cutter.

 

. I would agree with you, a nice access panel and fittings on the line would be good. However, if you look at my first pic you'll see they butchered the car. They ripped thw metal apart all the way to the shock mount.

Access panels are fine when done right, a lot of cars have them stock.

 

yeah that's exactly what i meant..

 

Pablo, FYI - Gr89rs (Mike) did not cut that hole. He bought it that way, along with the other problems the car previously had.

On the other hand, great job un-ghetto rigging that hole. It looks great now.

 

I never searched, but I thought the 44s were extinct!!

Are you planning on posting pics of the install as you go?

Very interesting using them. I'll TGO search & see what's involved with it!!
( Not that there's any around here!! )

 

Well I'm glad he was up front about it *sarcasm* but I freely admit that with used cars its buyer beware so it is what it is. The other problems the car had were just a stack up of terrible repairs. The plus side is that now that I have it all sorted out, the car hauls *** (for a 91 z) and the engine is a fairly stout replacement long block. Thanks for the compliments on the repair btw


Havoc,
That is the picture of the D44 installed. GM built a few of these back in the day as replacement rears for warranty work and for GMPP. If im not mistaken, they also came in the 92 Firehawk. They are pretty rare. I managed to snag one up from Jerrywho here.

There is nothing different about installing it compared to putting in a ten bolt. The only thing slightly different is that the pinion yoke is further forward than stock which will push your D.S. further into the trans. This is a problem for me since I have shorter LCAS so I am going to have to have the D.S. shortened a little to make it work (just figured this out today )

I hope to have it on the road soon.

 

I believe there are quite a few.

 

Pablo & skinny z--

Thanks for the input to further my education!! I thought it was a special order for 68-70 Chevelles 8 Impallas, & 4X4 in the early 70s.

92 Firehawk would be a prime candidate for someone looking to do this?

I'll be doing some searching. Thanks again for your tutoring!