Fuel pump. install

H

hotrod markVIII

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my new fuel pump came in the mail yesterday. going to put it in sometime this week.
problem is the one thing I hate doing more than anything else is dropping gas tanks.:shifty:

so I'm going to cut an access hole in floor under the rear seat.
I have done this before on other cars. making a patch to fit back over to seal it up after.

can any one tell me the exact location under the seat so I only have too cut once.:D maby even some pics?
thanks
 
No, but if nobody comes through for you... take some pics when you do it and post 'em.
 
Just look for the "hump" when you remove the seat. It should be right over the spot. I think the hump in the metal was to accommodate the lines, etc.

But I will say I dreaded doing my pump, but dropping the tank was not hard at all and I would do it again without thinking twice.
 
i'll post a pic for you. passenger side, right behind the bottom cushion's front hook. and no i didnt do this, this was a car i bought to part out.

springfeature008.jpg
 
I have dropped alot of tanks on different cars, and I will say that if you have that kind of access and are good at fabin a nice cover I would go that route..:D
 
jhargarage said:
I have dropped alot of tanks on different cars, and I will say that if you have that kind of access and are good at fabin a nice cover I would go that route..:D
Click to expand...

+1, fuel tanks are a pain in the ass to drop. i did the "fuel door" on my old sho.
 
I think I am goin to cut mine like that when I replace my Fuel Pump, Good Post.. Hopefully I remember it when the times comes hahaha
 
I wouldn't feel comfortable hacking into the floor pan of a unibody car like that..

My Del Sol has that type of access right from the factory though, just remove some trim and pull back the carpet and your there.
 
i dunno about cutting an access hole in the floor to do fuel pump....it take all but about 20min to remove the gas tank in the mark vIII, or any other MN12 for that matter...i could see it taking more then 20min just hacking a hole and and fabbing up some kinda cover...but thats just me, i could take it out with my eyes closed
 
And how often do most of up replace the pump? Probably only once in our Mark VIII ownership.
 
20 minutes to drop a tank you must be a magician, just getting the exhaust out of the way first can be a nightmare specially if the exhaust bolts are rusted, and cutting a hole that small in the floor wont do anything to the stiffness of the car what so ever, unibody or not, i'm not saying its the way to do it, i wouldnt cut a hole in my own car, but it wont hurt the car if you choose to do it that way, just be careful not to cut into the tank. and charlie to answer your question that is a picture of a 98, 97 and 98 have a sending unit much like a fuel cell in a race car, the sending unit is seperate from the fuel pump thats why there is no ring, its bolted onto the top of the tank, 93-96 have a sending unit and pump as one assembly and that is held in with the ring. i have taken apart more mark VIII's than probably anyone on here and it takes me 20 minutes to jack the car up and get all my tools ready to do a job like that, it is no 20 minute job.
 
drop exhaust at mid pipe, two bolts remove from rubber hanger two front bolts from fuel tank
 
i know 89 SC's had a round access underneath the back seat, i dont know if the later ones had one, ive seen them at the boneyard, i dont know why Ford didnt put one on the VIII.........



i dont like the square cut in that pic, i think itd be better to cut a circle out and make a cover for it, more factory looking than that thing....lol
 
If you cut a ROUND access hole you will not compromise the uniboby in any way. There are no weak points in a round openning. :D
 
I am a professional body man and have seen access holes cut before. You should definitely think twice about it. Cutting a hole in the floor will absolutely compromise body strength whether it is round, square or irregular. Ask 94M5 he has seen evidence of access holes as well. Our buddy had one in his Monte Carlo and got rear ended and it collapsed the whole trunk floor when it should have been a fender bender. The car ended up being totaled instead of replacing a bumper. Just the fact that they reinforce the floor by stamping body lines in them should give you an idea.
 
I am also a 30yr bodyman and fabricator and I am not sure where an access hole would be cut in a Monte, but in the Lincoln if you wrinkle the floor under the rear seat you won't have to worry about the car cause part of the trunk will be IN the back seat.
 
exactly my point thank you jhar, not to mention if you are smart about it, you will cut a piece of sheet metal bigger than your cut hole, and when you are done with the pump you can lay a thick bead of seam sealer around your replacement piece of metal, stick it over the hole and put a bunch of short self tapping sheet metal screws back around it to give it its oh so needed strength back, this will do just fine, or, to make all the pro's here happy, dont risk your life by cutting a hole and folding the car in half, just drop the tank and change the pump from underneath. just make sure you use jack stands and not just a jack so the car doesnt fall on you.
that whole last bit was sarcasm by the way, just cut the hole if its easiest for you!!
 
I'm also a bodyman,
and the hole is cut. pump is out. ran out of time before I had to pick my brother up from work . so it will be going back together today. the patch is made just havent decided if I'm going to seal and rivit or bolt or maby just bond it back in place. will decide tonight
 
i would seam seal it and rivet, i would seal it though, the picture i showed you that car had no patch over it, i removed the seat and the picture was exactly how i saw it, and the seat foam was loaded with black mold and the seat was wet. deff seal it, even if its silicone, i prefer seam sealer though, you can get it at the local auto parts store in a caulking tube, stuff is great, same crap they use from the factory.
 
yeah it will be done with seam sealer. got the fuel pump in today it takes awile when you only have a half hour between the time you finish work and
when you have to pick up your brother. LOL
and I think it was a tBird pump that I was sent. it came with teh bigger filter and was bottoming out on thing in the tank. so I had to do some creative bracket adjustments in order to make it fit. but its in and runs tomor just have to cover it back up and then make a dyno appointment.
 
got the fuel pump in and the hole all closed up but stupid me forgot to take pics. lol once I start working its a one track mind.
but i made some marks on the pic that was already posted to help aid others planing on taking the same route.

since the pic is a gen 2 its a little different, so I put the circle aproxamatly where the pump is on the gen ones. I cut the hole (marked in blue) with a air hack saw. and cut the blade really short. be very very careful while doing this you do not want the blade to brake threw the back side of the floor where i marked in red there is less then a 16th of an inch between the floor and the gas tank. be careful and take your time.
when cutting the hole do not cut out the seat clip. it takes a little finness to get the pump around it but its possible.

now for the patch.
its much easyer to reuse the part you cut out. since the floor is so close in some parts its not a simple as drilling and riviting. and of course the pice only fits in the hole. it dosnt cover it.
so go to a local hardware or car auto store and find some inch wide strips of steel. either 18 or 20 guage. clean the parch panel. (this can be difficult)
now here is the important part. on the pannel where I marked the compleat side red. you want to weld a strip across that side on the underside of your patch leaving about half of the strip hanging off. now you want to frame teh rest of your patch pannel but welding the rest of the strips on the top side (this is very important). now clean up and paint your pice top and bottom (any spray paint will do) you will never see it you just want to keep it from rusting.
your patch should be a perfiect fit. the side marked with red your framing strip will slide under the floor and the rest of the frame will sit on top of the floor. it should fit snug as long as you didnt warp it while welding.
use a seam sealer available at any auto parts store run a bead around your frame put your patch in place and drill hole and riving to hold in place MAKE SURE YOU MARK ANY PLACES THAT THE TANK OR LINES ARE TO CLOSE TO ALOW FOR DRILLING AND RIVITING. and obviosly dont drill or rivit there. put a little more seam sealer around the edge of your patch to keep water out. let it dry and ad a coat of robber based rocker guard (seals everything up nice.) let dry again and put the seat back in.

the best thing about doing it this way instead of dropping the tank is that if you ever have a fuel pump issue like it quits while your on a trip and 2 hours from home (lol been there done that)
the pump can be now changed with simple hand tools and you can avoid large tow and repair bills in order to get home

fulepumphole.jpg
 
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