Thinking about taking the easy way out..

[palmdog]

10/4 Consider it done!!!!! pictures included... who the hell thought of dropping an entire rear suspension/exhaust/driveshaft to change a fuel pump?????? All I can say is, someone wanting to charge me 6-8 hours labor... Silly!!!! Oh ya and an alignment to boot! As for taking my time... I just dropped my car 1 inch and changed the axles out. I have had my car in the garage awaiting an alignment, and want to drive this beast..... I love the feedback,, Thank you everyone for your opinions!!!!! Keep them rolling.....

[flyby]

I've thought about doing the same thing. However, I want to wait until I can do all the necessary drops to get the exact location and size of the hole necessary. I will be changing fuel pumps again in the near future so this will be done. An access panel just makes sense to me.

[techinny]

Originally Posted by derklug

We used to do this at the dealership to all wheel drive Tempos. Realistically it doesn't harm the car at all, just make sure you know where to cut and what is below. We used to drill a hole with a 3/4" hole saw and then use a nibbler to cut out the panel

Do you give the customer the option of doing it right or cutting a hole in their car, or just cut the hole?

[007s 'Vert]

My 04 Monte Carlo has an access panel for the fuel pump, so i imagine it wouldn't hurt anything to cut a hole in the Camaro if you know the dimensions, I think that after a while some aftermarket company will make a kit to make it possible to add an access panel along with a prefabbed removable panel. No one has come up with an aftermarket one probably because most of these cars are still under warranty and nobody really is in need of a removable panel.
I know that once my Camaro is out of waranty I will be looking for one of these kits for a do it yourselfer and I will be cutting a hole for access to the fuel pump, it is not a matter of if a pump will go out, it is a matter of when, and I want to be ready when it does.
I had to change out my fuel pump on my Monty and it only took a half of an hour because of that access panel, I knew ahead of time that I wasn't going to drop all that crap out from underneath the car and so I was ready to cut a hole if need be, but to my surprise there was an access panel when I pulled up the trunk mat.

[two_wheel_mayhem]

Originally Posted by techinny

Do you give the customer the option of doing it right or cutting a hole in their car, or just cut the hole?

No silly, they charge them labor to do it correctly then cut the hole and hope they don't notice.

I'm kidding for the most part.

[palmdog]

Well I finished up the install of my ZL1 fuel pump, and for the best part about the access hole...... I didn't cut any wires or fuel lines. I warn anyone who decides to do this that the clearance is VERY tight and to take your time with the electric shears.. The wires literally run up against the floor....

[Lycanine]

Originally Posted by palmdog

Well I finished up the install of my ZL1 fuel pump, and for the best part about the access hole...... I didn't cut any wires or fuel lines. I warn anyone who decides to do this that the clearance is VERY tight and to take your time with the electric shears.. The wires literally run up against the floor....

Congrats!

[techinny]

Originally Posted by two_wheel_mayhem

No silly, they charge them labor to do it correctly then cut the hole and hope they don't notice.

I'm kidding for the most part.

I work for an equipment dealer, I recently had a tractor with a cab that had a blown hydraulic line, the only way to get at it was to remove the cab, or cut an access hole. I wrote up 2 estimates and gave the customer the option, he chose the access hole due to the cost difference. He did request that instead of welding the patch back in,( which I offered to maintain the integrity of the cab) that I use screws instead so that if he had the same problem again, he could just remove it.

[palmdog]

Here are some pictures of the install if anyone is interested on how much room you have to play with if you decide cut... I will be fabricating a panel/door later this week. The tape is a temp fix.....

[techinny]

Looks good, you need to do some measuring and make a template of the dimensions in relationship to imobile objects located near the access hole. Then you could share them with others for a small fee....................................maybe. HAHAHA

[jeffny09]

Donttt

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2

[kjkjr27]

Nice job, I would never of had the balls to do that myself. Glad it worked out well for you.

[palmdog]

After I make an access panel I will offer some dimensions, but I really don't want the grief if and when someone follows my lead and hacks into some wiring or fuel line... I have some really cool ideas for the access panel to make it look sweet.... I'm sure theres plenty of people out there that will consider this idea crazy but heck, it's fuctional, and there is a seat ontop of it.. oh ya, if I do need to change out my fuel pump in the future It will take about 15min......

[palmdog]

Forgot to add the special tool involved to lock down the the fuel pump.. Had to redneck engineer an engine hoist plate to give myself a three point contact on the fuel pump lock ring to get it to seat... This actually took the most time on entire install....