FUEL ACCESS HOW-TO – Using 4th gen plastic tank
The point of this article is to show everyone the proper way to do a fuel hatch access. Many people just cut the body and rivet in a piece of steel using seam sealer, which is fair at best and leaves a lot to be desired in the form of a factory-like solution.
Requirements:
1) 1/4″ thick steel flange with threaded bolt holes, black anodized cover and bolts:
https://www.detroitspeed.com/Fuel-system/080402-fuel-pump-access-door-kit.html
2) Air Nibbler:
3) Welder
4) Felpro Karropak Gasket Material (used to create your own gasket). Recommended by Felpro to seal out exhaust and fuel fumes
5) Razor blade
6) 3M Seam Sealer
7) Eastwood Rubberized Rust Encapsulator
8) Pencil / Marker
9) Drill bits
My Goals:
1) Easily removed by unbolting
2) Sealed from the outside in case of any vapors / exhaust fumes
3) Area cut is reinforced structurally
I pulled back my carpet, and placed the ring in an approx. position. Using a big drill bit, I poked a hole through to get the air nibbler started.
After verifying the position I wanted the ring at, I cut the entire hole open using the air nibbler
Then removed the tank to weld the ring into place
Welding.
Note: since the sheet metal is stamped in those dips, the thickness of the metal is considerably thinner. You’ll need to fill in the humped areas. If using a mig, go slow or you’ll burn through the metal.
After welding, I threw some eastwood undercoating on the vehicle. This is optional
On the top I used some 3M seam sealer around the edges of the flange. Then topped it off with some more undercoating to seal the surface. I also recommend filling in between the ring and body under with seam sealer.
You should be all done with the hard part. Next is creating the gasket.
Lay the gasket out flat, and take the black cover placing it perfectly on the gasket material. Taking a razor blade, cut along the perimeter of the gasket material out until you get a solid square.
With a marker or pecil, trace the bolt holes. Using a vice or socket, gently drill the holes for the bolts out using a correct size drill bit. Don’t apply too much pressure or you’ll crinkle the gasket material
You’ll get the result below:
Finished result:
