So after so many years of blasting guys for cutting a fuel pump access door- looks like I have to do just that. (Nowhere to work on the car anymore.) I think I could manage to cut an access hole in the street without anybody noticing; I'll just tell 'em I'm cleaning the interior!

(By the way- this is currently the third pump I put in "the right way"- dropping the tank & suspension & exhaust & etc- unfortunately, for those previous replacements, I had a place to work on the car... not anymore- If I *did* have a place to work on it, you can bet I'd be dropping the tank again!)

AND I have a fuel pump sending unit in my apt, that I meant as a spare in case my fuel gauge died- so when I finally get a spot to work on my car, I can weld the door back shut (or just get a whole floorpan from classic industries) and get rid of my Hack Job!

SO: I hit the search button and found what "I" think is a nice job at http://www.taekwondoplus.org/z28/fuelpump.html - even though its a fourth gen I think the same would apply. And I have a dremel so that'll work good (the plasma cutter is in storage- and that'd be a bad idea anyway LOL). Anybody else have any bookmarked pages - or suggestions - that I could go by when I (shamefully) cut a hole in my Firebird? (At least this time, it won't be the rust making a hole... and ya can be sure I'll be POR-15'ing the heck out of it)

And apologies to everyone who I told not to do this access-door-hack-job in the past! (But thinking back, only a *few* were in the predicament I'm in- no place to work on their own car. Dropping the tank isn't that bad- as long as you have a place to do it.)

Or you could save me from hacking up my car and tell me if I can put an in-line external pump, while still sucking fuel from the in-tank pump- would it work? (I don't think it would; I think the dead in-tank pump would be too restrictive, even for my v6?)

Thanks!

 

Read this
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/post...4-post160.html

And this
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/tur...utes-less.html

Both used something other than sheetmetal screws protruding into the tank area... something ripe for problems if the car ever gets rearended. I'd suggest using a double flaring tool to slightly bubble the end of the lines where you plan to clamp hoses (you can do this with the first step of double flaring and not going far), that way they cant just pull off the line. And round your corners like both of the above did.

 

Cool, thanks for those links, madmax! And I was wondering how I'd keep the hoses on there - sounds like the single-flare step will work great. I like how they used compression fittings too for the high side. It kills me that I have to do this- but if I'm going to do it, I plan on doing it "right"...

 

what was used to cut the metal fuel lines?

 

Yeah that's a good question; I saw one pic that showed a mini-tube-cutter, but I have the exact same one in my hand and I don't think there's enough clearance to use it. Unless they used a pair of snips to cut the line, and then they flexed the tubes up (to get some room) and re-cut them with the tube cutter & then reamed 'em out?

[edit] Hey, I wonder- did they remove the fuel pump lock ring, so the pump assembly was "free", and then they lifted up on the pump, and that gave enough room to spin the mini-tube-cutter? (Last time I did that fuel pump was around 1999 or 2000, but I'm pretty sure the pump hardlines weren't attached to the tank...)

 

Yes. If you pull the lock ring loose, that'll help getting the cutter around the lines, but still with them being so close together, you can't spin it 360 degrees, but close enough to get it apart, then cleaned up with a file/Dremel, with a good vacuum cleaner sucking away any filed debris away & not in the fuel line.

 

Cool, thanks, Steven! Thanks for the tip about the vacuum & shavings too. The vaccuum noise will be good for my "I'm cleaning the car" story too

 

max those were very good sites but i have 2 questions if you ever get back here.
1. what are those braces to either side of the access door? i dont have them on my 90 camaro and i bought it new.
2. anyone get the measurements of the hole, i want to make the door plate first and then cut the car smaller?

thanks