88GT at Pull-A-Part

[Drewbdo]

Any gas in the tank?

A valid question. My car pretty much sucks wind at 1/4 tank indicated.

I filled it on Thursday. Last night, I siphoned about 6-7 gallons out. I wasn't sure if I should try to siphon it completely out, or if that could cause a problem. Thankfully, I had jacked the car high enough that I was able to slide 5 gallon fuel cans under. I filled one can, then moved the hose over and filled the other about 1/4-1/3. When I dropped the tank, there was still maybe an inch of fuel in the bottom of the tank.

The fuel tank is now on the ground under the car. The outside of the tank looks clean, and the pump looks new. There is corrosion on the metal tubes (inside, near the top of the tank), a some rusty-looking trash inside the pump screen, and a lot of "flakes" sloshing around on the inside bottom of the tank. There is a big plastic liner thingie in the back of the tank, and I could see a couple of cracks in the plastic.

Any recommendations on how to clean the tank out? I don't want to to dump the remaining gas on the ground. Tossing in a match would probably be exciting, but could damage the tank. My bride would probably not be very happy if I used her vacuum to suck the rest of the gas and trash out of the tank. That's all the cleaning ideas I have...

AutoZone has a ACDelco?? pump for about $40, or I can get the entire assembly... hoses, metal tubes, o-rings, pump, etc for about $270. I'd rather spend $40, but I also don't want to re-do this job for a long time. Since I have corrosion on the metal tubes already, and I don't have a nice garage/shop for doing repairs, I was thinking about replacing the entire thing.

Any suggestions? You guys have a lot more experience with these little cars than I do.

[Fierofool]

Roger and I replaced the pump in a Formula the club owns.  Same thing with the trash.  Lots of it.  Rust on the sender tubes is common because the top is never submerged. 

We repeatedly  sprayed the inside with a water hose and turned the tank on end and upside down until we felt it was clean enough.  Final rinse was with a little fuel.  If you can find some Dry Gas, add some when you reinstall the tank.

$40 sounds cheap.  We paid $60-70 IIRC, from Rock auto or Summit, for the Delphi unit.  It came with strainer, tank O-ring, a length of in-tank hose and clamps for the hose.  We chose to keep the pulsator rather than use the hose.  It was plug and play.  No wire cutting or splicing. 

Use some PB Blaster to spray the sender rheostat and get the varnish off it.  I think it should ohm at 0 and 90, at E and F.  I think there's something on here about what to use to rub the fine sender wires with.

[f85gtron]

You could pour the remaining "dirty" fuel through a coffee filter to get it all out and not waste it. There's probably another gallon in there.
The pump at the store doesn't sound like the correct one. You gotta watch those guys. Their parts listings are incorrect at times.

[TopNotch]

According to Rock Auto, which "usually" has the right numbers, the AC Delco pump should be part no.  EP378 (25163468).
Edit: I checked on two online stores -- they agree on the part number, and say that the AC Delco pump does not come with a strainer, so you'll need to get one separately.

[Fierofool]

This is the pump Roger and I installed in the Fastback Formula.  All year V6's are the same pump.  You will need to buy a sock.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/dfp-fe0039/applications/year/1986/make/pontiac/model/fiero?ibanner=SREPD2

Correction.  This is the fuel pump we installed.  I was working on the car today and found the box in the trunk.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/dfp-fe0113

[GTRS Fiero]

That's a good looking Fiero.  But it looks like you have a tire problem.  Bring it to the October meeting and let us kick the tires to be sure they're safe.😃

My initial thoughts about the headlights are:
1.  I don't think you will be able to convert to stock popups.
2.  You will probably have difficulty seeing at night because;
A.  The pan cuts off the downward beam so you can't see the roadway directly in front.
B.  The fender and hood cuts off side scatter so seeing the lines is difficult. 

Those are the reasons I converted back.  A good set of driving lights can reduce those issues, though.

Those lights probably aren't different from the 80's Camaros