Broken fuel pump mount (w/pic)

[josh u]

Hi all!
Long time lurker, first time poster. Long story short, was removing the fuel pump & assembly on my 1970 T and broke BOTH the fuel pump rubber mounts (sheared them in half where it's solid rubber). Can anyone enlighten me on the proper way to remove them? Is there a nut located on the floor pan inside the car I'm not seeing? I was removing them by holding pliers on the metal washer and a 10mm socket on the nut...result is what's show in the pic. Thanks for any assistance!

- Josh

[josh u]

[Jack Stands]

There’s a nut holding it in place that will need to be accessed from the other side of the panel. The mounts are basically two metal pieces (with short studs attached) with a rubber spacer bonded between them to provide isolation for the fuel pump’s noise.

[VW_NUTT]

This is what you are dealing with. They are cheap. Got a box at Spaenur here for $50

[josh u]

Originally Posted by Jack Stands

There’s a nut holding it in place that will need to be accessed from the other side of the panel. The mounts are basically two metal pieces (with short studs attached) with a rubber spacer bonded between them to provide isolation for the fuel pump’s noise.

Thanks for the reply! So working from the inside, it looks to be on the passenger floor pan area, close to the shifter..? I didn't want to pull the heater out just yet in case that's not the correct area. Am I correct in the general location where the nuts are from the other side of the panel?

[josh u]

Originally Posted by VW_NUTT

This is what you are dealing with. They are cheap. Got a box at Spaenur here for $50

I appreciate the heads up on what/where to look for replacements. Seems like an awful design to have all that tension on the rubber, but maybe new ones (aka not almost 50 y/o ones) would change my mind!! Thanks!

[universeman]

I just replaced one of those on my 72 Mercedes. It was a great design, 50 years ago

[josh u]

Ha ha, no kidding. Trying to tactfully remove the mount without ripping these apart--then ripping them apart was very frustrating!!

[Jack Stands]

Well, it did hold together and did it’s job for 40+ years, so not such a bad design after all! You can also get these at McMaster-Carr. The nuts should be down on the floorboards on the passenger side close to the center tunnel, though you may have to come up with some way to fasten the flat part from underneath while removing the nuts from the interior.

[johnsonfm3]

Well, if you open the smuggler's box and look on the floor, you will find the tops of the fuel pump mounting hardware. The rest should be obvious. I bought my new ones as Bel-Metric.
Fred

[josh u]

Originally Posted by Jack Stands

Well, it did hold together and did it’s job for 40+ years, so not such a bad design after all! You can also get these at McMaster-Carr. The nuts should be down on the floorboards on the passenger side close to the center tunnel, though you may have to come up with some way to fasten the flat part from underneath while removing the nuts from the interior.

Ha! That's a great point Jack...and ONLY reason why I'm replacing the entire original assembly is because the original pump died and now I'm doing a period-correct fuel pump swap. This car is a bit of a Frankenstein: 2.4L engine in a 1970 T. Unfortunately when they did the engine swap decades ago, only thing that was considered was the rear components and nothing else, so now I'm putting in the proper fuel pump.
Thank you for the input on locating the nuts, will crawl around that area...and will definitely enlist an extra set of hands to hold the mounts down!

[josh u]

Originally Posted by johnsonfm3

Well, if you open the smuggler's box and look on the floor, you will find the tops of the fuel pump mounting hardware. The rest should be obvious. I bought my new ones as Bel-Metric.
Fred

Thanks Fred! Will keep you posted.

[brcorp]

Grab the rubber isolator with a pair of channel locks near the flat washer and remove the nut - idea is to minimize the shear in the rubber to avoid tearing it.

[josh u]

Thanks Bill, will do!

[josh u]

I'll probably start a "restoration thread" at some point, but here's some other pics of my progress. I decided to start with a "Top 3 priorities" list to at least get it running and driving again: fuel (pump went bad/old fuel gummed up the lines), brakes (front right piston was seized so I rebuilt both sides) and carbs (leaked like crazy, etc.). Here's some pics as she sits today (complete with new Road & Track GT2 cover-issue for inspiration ), the engine somewhat cleaned up and some of the rebuild of various components...