Alright last night my fuel pump went out in my car (94 firebird formula), so i call around today to see how much getting a new one installed would be. I knew it would be quite a bit, being that the pump is in the tank, but the cheapest i got quoted at was $1250... and the other two shops i called were for $1750 and $1800... i am in indy too by the way, and just moved here for school, but there is no way i can afford this
they also said that to fix it i would have to do a complete rear axle removal and exhaust removal...
is somethin crazy goin on here or do they really put it to ya that badly?

 

I did my swap in under 4 hours via the trap door method. I had to wait for the glue to dry, otherwise it would have taken 1 hour. If you go to a shop I can see it costing that much.

 

wow buddy do it yourself. I did mine this year, i have never done it before and it took me about 1-2 hours. Luckily i had the whole cut overtop of the tank already so that saved me alot of time but honestly it's not that hard. it cost me a wopping $160 with overnight shipping and taxes for my walbro 255 installed.

 

You need to keep looking for a good shop that charges fair prices and knows what they are talking about. One that tells you it will take about 5 hours and cost 5 to 6 hundred dollars would qualify.

JFYI you do not remove the rear axle. The procedure is to lower the axle only enough to allow the tank to be moved down, over and then out. The axle needs to be a little lower on the fuel filler side. This means disconnecting the shocks and perhaps the pertinent part of the exhaust. It is best performed on a lift but just raising the car up significantly will do. The rest of the work is light and easy stuff like connectors and tank straps. Care must be taken when lowering the tank so as to not crack the filler neck because on your car year it is all one piece. You can insure this is helped along by removing the fuel splash cup behind your fill door. It is as easy as removing your gas cap and the 3 philips head screws holding it to the quarter panel.

A good mechanic will be careful when removing the old pump and sender out of the tank in order to do no harm to the float level mechanism.

If a garage shows you a price for the pump around $500 alone, that is because they are tripling the actual cost to them. A 5 hour job with a shop rate of $70 X 5 = $350 + $175 to $250 for a replacement pump is reasonable. Make sure they replace the fuel filter as well because that is probably what caused the pump to fail in the first place. If you find a very good garage, they will allow you to ask them to install a higher quality / performance pump such as a walbro (ie racetronix has a direct replacement in kit form)....

 

Search "trap door" and you'll find plenty of info on how to do it yourself.

Here's a few pics http://www.worldisround.com/articles/12533/index.html

 

I <3 trap door mod

 

alright lol i love you guys
i about cried hearing that... and i think we are gonna go the trap door way as well...

another question... what kind of pump is a good one for the money? i found a couple on summit racing... a granatelli and a venom pump...both are just about cheaper than what it would be to get one from autozone or somewhere like that and im sure better quality, but i kinda need the pump here somewhat quickly...

thanks a ton guys.. saved me a lot of trouble and money