Let me start off by saying I know alot of people dont agree with idea of cutting an access panel in the hatch to make fuel pump r&r's easier. I have decided to do it though. Please no flames

Here are my questions.......I have done a search and think I ve got the basics down but......

What do you guys suugest I use to cut the hole? (safety wise)

And how should I cut the steel lines when I replace it with rubber fuel line?

Should I cut all the lines or can I leave some alone? Pics would be cool if anyone has any.

Dennis

Sabre/jig saw

Use a tubing cutter and DO NOT cut them all in the same place, stagger the cuts. And DO NOT use rubber fuel line. At summit you can get a 37* tubing flare tool, tube nuts, sleeves and unions. I would suggest doing it right by using the above.

I used an electric sheet metal nibbler. The gas tank is very close to the sheet metal. I would think that the blade of a jig saw will be bouncing off the tank.

I agree with Morley. And if I were to do the access panel thing, I'd STILL drop the tank and do all the modifications. Besides I don't think there's room to use a tubing cutter unless you remove the sending unit.

Sure, it defeats the purpose of putting in an access panel, but it'll make the install look more professional and safer...it won't look like crap, like most of the other access panels I've seen.

I have heard that te only real way to do this is to drop the tank. If that's the case, then I would think that an access door would be a waste. Fuel pump don't get replaced as often as a fuel filter so I would leave it go. Drop the tank, replace the pump, put it all back. You probably won't need to do it again for many years if at all.

Its not all that hard to drop the tank.

I can get the tank out (with a friend), in 45 minutes.

replace the pump, put the tank back in.. done.

Remember, you don't have to remove the rear completly, you can just drop it and let it rest on a jack.

Just replaced mine, doing a complete car rebuild so I wanted to remove everything and clean/paint anyway. One of the worst jobs there is. Couldn't have done it without my 500 ft.lb. impact wrench and acet. torch. If the car is up there in miles and age. Cut the hole. The fuel lines are probably rusted together also and you would wind up replacing the whole sending unit and pipes too doing it the regular way, big money.

cutting the hole is not a wise decision if you ever plan on selling the car ...i passed on a couple ive looked at recently because most of them arent done in a professional way and the time it takes to drop the tank and replace the pump is not gonna be as bad as cutting up your car and fabricating a panel to cover it and hoping it doesnt rust ...and honestly how often does the pump go out if you use a quality one id say you will get atleast 7+years of service easily ...

as for cutting the hole, I think somone used a die grinder with a cutoff wheel. thats no joke about how close the tank is to the body. I will agree with everyone that says if you are going to do it do it right. I can't remember which time it was that this was being discussed so you may need to but the way he did it looked very clean and very professional. and yes I think GM should have had an access panel there in the first place.

yeah and if gm would have done it to begin with then it wouldnt be as bad looking as the majority of them that you see on here ....LMAO....i just dont see why anyone besides a race car owner would need one in the first place

Don't use anthing that gives off sparks, alot of cars the tank cracks alittle where the filler neck goes into the tank, I know mine has, I would drop the tank and then do it if I felt I needed to for the future, just make sure to paint the area, and give it a while before putting it back together the gas fumes will peel off the new paint on the cuts. Also use body sealer on the panel door so you don't get fumes in the car. I figure when my pump goes out I will put in a new tank, the car has 190k on it and to my knowledge the pump is orginal, and should be going out sooner or later.

another main consern is the fuel lines when you cut them to remove the pump how are you gonna reattach them? if you use rubber and clamps your an idiot ...if you splice them at all your not to smart when you look at how much psi that little pump puts out . and think about this what if you get in a rearend accident ? some one slides into you at an intersection and you dont realize your spliced fuel lines are leaking right down on top of the exhaust . then what are you gonna do when that sucker catches fire ? .......RUN....thats about it then youve got a burnt piece of crap because you took a short cut instead of doing a job the right way and put a couple hours work into your car ...now that doesnt make to much sense does it ?
think about it before you go cutting stuff up

JC