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Where do I cut


gr_elvis

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I wouldnt do it personally. Just drop the tank and dont die instead

 

Dropping the tank is not terrible on one of these cars. Undo the electrical cable going to the fuel pump along with the hoses for Evap & fuel delivery, remove the filler neck from the fuel tank, then the front 2 tank strap bolts, and slide the tank down and out towards the front. Of course you would want to do this with a minimal amount of fuel in the tank.

 

Be glad this is not a 3rd or 4th generation F-body where you have to drop the rear axle to get the tank out.

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Dropping the tank is not terrible on one of these cars. Undo the electrical cable going to the fuel pump along with the hoses for Evap & fuel delivery, remove the filler neck from the fuel tank, then the front 2 tank strap bolts, and slide the tank down and out towards the front. Of course you would want to do this with a minimal amount of fuel in the tank.

 

Be glad this is not a 3rd or 4th generation F-body where you have to drop the rear axle to get the tank out.

I've seen a lot of those F bodies with holes hacked into them instead of pulling the tank.  I hate to see that.  

 

Just pull the tank out.  It's not that hard, and cutting a hole and then patching it back up is no picnic either.

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E-body is not bad but need to drop the rear sway bar. P-body is a pain - long and thin (fits under the console), must be 2 feet in the air, and there are many hoses.

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I've seen a lot of those F bodies with holes hacked into them instead of pulling the tank.  I hate to see that.  

 

Just pull the tank out.  It's not that hard, and cutting a hole and then patching it back up is no picnic either.

 

It's hacky, but I could see cutting the floor on an F-body if it was a side-of-the-road repair, considering you have to drop the rear end otherwise.

 

For a W, just drop the fucking tank, it's not that bad.

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I dropped the tank and replaced the pump in a little over an hour on the side of the road once in my '94 CS......

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got to move the exhaust out of the way on my car. it's not too terrible of a job

 

I forgot about this. I had to do that on mine too.I also had to remove the heat shield that is in front of the tank.

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I forgot about this. I had to do that on mine too.I also had to remove the heat shield that is in front of the tank.

Yeah that's right, I can't picture why but I remember dropping the heat shield. Maybe the tank hit it with the front lip or something. New straps are cheap too so unless yours are in extraordinary shape there's not much point in using them again.

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Before you cut a hole in the body to access the fuel tank, it might do you some good to research WHY Ford Pintos were known as flaming death-traps.

 

Hint:  There was a lack of secure, intact "body" sheet-metal between the gas tank and the passenger compartment.  Just like what you plan to do.

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Before you cut a hole in the body to access the fuel tank, it might do you some good to research WHY Ford Pintos were known as flaming death-traps.

 

Hint:  There was a lack of secure, intact "body" sheet-metal between the gas tank and the passenger compartment.  Just like what you plan to do.

 

You mean aside of not having really a single thing in common with what we are talking about short of it being a "Car"? 

 

Anyhow...

 

I confirmed it last night, the rear support bar that goes between the rear strut towers on convertibles is exactly over top of the fuel pump, you couldn't do it if you wanted to.

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It's a completely fair comparison.  The Pinto had an open "hole" between the tank and the passenger compartment.  Cutting a hole in the body--and then almost certainly NOT securing the "cut-out" panel properly afterwards--does a nice job of re-creating half of the Pinto Problem.

 

The other half was the crappy Pinto body structure, where a rear impact would so badly deform the body that the doors wouldn't open.

 

The entire Pinto effect was:  Rear impact, gas tank ruptures and spills into the passenger compartment because there's no sheet metal between tank and interior.  The gasoline-soaked interior catches fire, but the occupants can't get out because the car body has crushed-into the doors.

 

A hack-job hole above the fuel tank, with typical hack-job re-sealing of the cut-open body, could lead directly to gasoline in the interior given a rear impact.  We can hope the doors won't be jammed-shut.

 

Any way you look at it, hacking a hole above the tank is very, very silly.  There are vehicles with engineered access holes; the panel is secured nicely so as to prevent a ruptured tank from flooding the interior.

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I understand it's a bad idea. I'm hoping to drop the tank tomorrow. I'm sorry I asked I only asked because I couldn't get the gas out and I had done it that way on 2 other cars and it worked well. I appreciate how you feel and that proves to me I found the right site to join. Thanks

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Oh I've cut access holes before and not ashamed to admit it. On my W-body there wasn't a good place to cut so I dropped it. Depending on the level of crustification it may be wise to pick up new straps, they're cheap.

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