Just installed Walbro
I just installed the Walbro pump on my '89 yesterday.
Took me awhile by myself.
When I was ready to remove the bolts that held the straps on, I used two bottle jacks to just press two pieces of 2" x 6" x 6" lumber under the tank symmetrically. When the straps were retracted I lowered the tank, a little at a time by working the bottle jacks.
You can only lower it at an angle because the left part of the tank (you are lying on the ground with your head towards the rear of the vehicle) is above the muffler pipe.
Since this was my first time replacing the fuel pump, I didn't know how to work on it this way, so I slid the tank to the right and pulled it out the rear of the vehicle to work on it.
It is heavier than I thought it would be.
I ran the tank about 25 miles past the point when the yellow "low fuel" light comes on.
There was still about a gallon of gasoline in the tank - more than I expected.
I wish I had run it until the tank was dry and carried some spare gas with me.
A gallon of gasoline is still about 6 pounds. It sloshes around and since I am not the strongest guy in town with having broken my collarbone twice, once on the right, once on the left cycling and not being able to do a pushup until I get an operation, this and the weight of the tank were a problem for me.
But I'm glad I got the tank out from underneath the car. I could remove the retaining ring more easily, clean around this before placing the new O-ring lubed with dielectric grease, could look into the tank with a flashlight to see if/how much debris was in there, and could see how the tank was constructed.
I would think a performance upgrade would be able to install a fibreglass tank for weight savings.
I also cleaned the terminals, removed the dried up dielectric grease and regreased them.
Looks like I need new rubber fuel hoses that attach to the tank also - another time.
The bolt that holds the metal fuel lines, which run from the filler cap to the tank, to the underbody was stripped so I need to screw in a larger body bolt to hold these lines secure.
I used the same two bottle jacks and pieces of lumber to slowly elevate the tank back up underneath the vehicle at a level where I could slide it to the left over the exhaust pipe.
I struggled with this for awhile as it would have been easier to use two bottle jacks and a plank of wood as a member had suggested rather than two separate pieces.
I know this is a point of contention, but for me anyway, I think an access hole would be easier to replace the fuel pump.
All in all, it took me an embarassingly long time of five hours to replace the fuel pump with cleanup.
And on a different note ....
I don't know why nobody does this, but everytime I remove a bolt, I clean the bolt threads with a thread chaser or at least a brass brush, clean the female threads with a thread chaser and reattach the fastener with assembly ****.
You should be able to screw a fastener in finger tight, wrenching is only needed to stretch the bolt the required amount (i.e. required torque or clamping force appropriate for the fastener size and material) to clamp the items together.
This will save you umpteen headaches even 15 years down the road (as I have experienced with my car) in never having to heat, pry, or strip a fastener loose.
Even on my exhaust manifold and exhaust clamp connections, I use a ceramic based anti-seize that just turns to dust when the nuts, bolts etc. are easily loosened. A high temperature copper or nickel based anti-sieze should work just as well.
But the mechanics who have replaced these parts several times before I have a tackled them, never do this.
ARP makes an excellent assembly lubricant.
Thread chasers are not that expensive. Do NOT use thread cutting dies and only use rethreading dies if the threads are damaged.
Thread chasers will only CLEAN threads, they will not cut new threads or rethread. You should only use thread cutting dies to cut NEW threads in drilled holes for female threads or appropriately sized blank metal dowels to cut male threads
Rethreading dies are used to fixed damaged threads on existing fasteners.
