Dealing with spinning rivnuts on DeLorean washer fluid cover and fuel pump cover

 While tracing wires for the fuel pump to fix a fuel pump issue that I'll write about in another post, I had to gain access to the fuel pump wiring that goes through the windshield washer cover in the left front corner underneath the DeLorean. I had previously replaced several bolts holding on the cover in an effort to cosmetically improve everything on the car, but three of the bolts holding on the cover spun the rivnuts and wouldn't come out. I didn't worry about them at the time, but now I needed access and they had to come out.

I brought out a dremel for the hard-to-reach bolts and drilled them out, but brought out the grinder with a cutoff wheel for those with easy access. 

After getting those three bolts drilled out, I removed the washer fluid cover for the first time. It had a bit of debris in the cover, but it wasn't too bad, which surprised me as it likely hadn't been removed since new. Here's a look into the cover:

 

 

I cleaned up the cover, removed the washer bottle reservoir for a drain and cleaning, then put it back in the car with some new washer fluid and replaced the cover with new stainless steel bolts and washers.

 

While tackling these old rivnuts, I decided now was the perfect time to deal with the terrible rivnut situation for both the fuel pump cover and the fuel filler closing panel. Both panels only had about half of the rivnuts that could still hold screws. Several were missing. Several appeared to have been drilled out at some point and the factory screws were too small to grab any threads. I decided to remove any that were in bad shape so all original screw locations would be functional once again. Here's a look at some of the before:

Another thing that bothered me about my car is that after I installed the aftermarket fuel pump, the fuel pump cover would hit the pump, preventing the cover from being able to bolt into place. It was about an inch or two far away from being able to fit. Others had experienced a similar problem after putting in the modern fuel pump and I saw three possible paths forward:

1. Leave it as-is
2. Cut out a hole in the cover to make room for the fuel pump
3. Remove the fuel tank closing plate on the bottom and try pushing down the gas tank  

I decided to go for option #3 and removed the fuel tank closing plate. The fuel tank is wedged in the frame and held into place with foam pads and the coolant lines that run along the bottom. I pulled those coolant lines down as much as I felt comfortable and tried pulling the tank down from the bottom, but it wasn't going anywhere.

I then went to the top of the car and tried figuring out how to push down, using a combination of gravity and my body weight. I ended up using a pole to push down while I stood in the trunk area and bounced up and down to get the tank to budge, which it did. After a couple of tries, I was able to get the fuel pump cover in place and secured in place by the screws.

Here is the after of the fuel pump cover rivnuts all functional and working.

I then had to get the fuel tank closing place back on the bottom of the frame, which ended up being easier than I thought. So for the first time in several years, the fuel pump cover is back on the car and I'm a happy camper. I'm glad I fixed it and didn't hack up the cover, but fixed it in a way that didn't involve cutting.