It looks like I need to replace my Walbro again due to a failure in the check valve. I hate the prospect of dropping the tank again so I was wondering about cutting a trap door so that it can be accessed from the interior.

Can someone provide some feedback, instructions or even pictures of this process? I'm curious about identifying the location from the interior, the appropriate cutting tool, how the trap door is reattached, etc.

TIA

 

I cut a pretty big hole in my rear deck. To start I cut a 2X2 hole near center (left to right) and closer to the rear seat. This will allow you to see the lines going into the tank. Then just cut a bigger hole from there centering it visually. The hold will be close the the edge of the rear deck where the back of the rear seat is. You will need to get your hand down there to disconnect the fuel lines. My hole ended up being about 16x16, but you probably don't have to make it that big. I just did it to make getting the lines off easier and so I had a lot of room to work. I used an electric die-grinder from Sears with a cut-off wheel. You could probably use a Dremel but would take a little longer. WHATEVER you do don't don't go too deep you have about a half inch clearance from the tank to the deck and watch the fuel lines. Make a cut in a U shape so u can bend the metal towards the front of the car. Then you can cut the rest off and see that you aren't cutting into the lines. I bolted a thick peice of sheet metal over the hole I bought from Home Depot. I also ran a foam gasket around the sheet metal and deck so it wouldn't rattle leak or whatever. Sorry I don't have any pics of it, I have an amp rack on top of it. Next time I access it I will get some.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/orionspl/ssss.jpg

 

This might help you out

 

I'll post some tonight. I have some off of my car and off my buddies TA we did on Sunday.

 

Hey, thanks guys. This will be very helpful.

So far I haven't seen how anyone covered the hole so, some insight there would be great too.

I also have my amp mounted on that surface but it wouldn't be difficult to move that during the job but it sure would make future pump changes a breeze.

I also want to obtain another stock pump setup as I pretty well butchered the "can" that the stock pump mounts in and I know Racetronics view on the importance of maintaining that setup. Anyone got one laying around? Obviously the pump itself doesn't need to work. GM sells them but they come complete with an OEM pump as I understand it.

 

I did the access hole in mine last fall when I installed a Walbro, waaay easier than dropping the tank I'm sure. I used another online guide but the hole looked just like the one in the above guide. I first drilled a 1/2" starter hole with the bit set to only go just through the metal. Then cut it out using a pair of right off set sheet metal snips, it was very simple. I bought a piece of 24 gauge sheetmetal at Home Depot to cover it, they sell them in like two or three foot square pieces. I cut a piece out so it was about 3/4 of an inch larger on all sides. Then put a layer of black RTV on it, let it set up for 10-15 minutes then screwed it down with about a dozen or so very short self tapping screws. They were around 1/2 inch with a flat self tapping tip, not the real sharp little ones. I used the real short ones because anything longer could hit one of the fuel lines on one side, got them at HD too.

I had to go back in a few days later to check the fuel sending unit (that I screwed up when installing it) and I literaly had the cover off, and the pump out in under 15 minutes, really handy access panel. If I had dropped the tank and all that stuff the first time and had to go through all that again I would have been really pissed.

 

I have pics of what I used to cover it

 

Here's how mine looks.. Stainless steel cover .. It now has dynamat all around it.

Panel Cover

 

Just curious why you guys are screwing down the "new" panel? If you put some RTV on there it would be fine. Not like some little screws are going to prevent anything from getting messed up. Or are you doing just for the peace of mind?