Anybody hate the way the El Camino fuel fill door opens from the bottom???

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roger1

G-Body Guru
Aug 23, 2010
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San Angelo, TX
I sure did. This is how I modified it to open from the side. Just finished today.

My neighbor has an old S10 pickup bed that he's cutting up. Turns out that the fuel fill door not only opens from he side, but the size and contour are very, very close to the same as the El Camino.

Here's the parts he brought me (along with my original door for size comparison):

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First thing was to cut S10 panel the size I wanted it to be. I then traced around it on the quarter panel for a line to cut.
Here it is with the quarter cut and the original 2 piece inner structure removed:

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I didn't realize it at first but one of the two inner structure pieces is the seal on the inner quarter panel and must be re-installed in order to keep dirt and moisture from getting between the inner and outer panels. I drilled out the spot welds to separate the 2 pieces, clearanced the seal as necessary and reinstalled it with a few screws and seam sealer.

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Here it is with the new donor panel tack welded in place. The backside of this also has seam sealer sealing it to the other piece of inner structure.

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Weld ground smooth and fuel door installed:

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The panel sunk in a little on the right side joint due to heat shrinkage and will need to be pulled back out. I figured it would do that since that side didn't have the support of the structure there. I don't own a stud welder so I will weld some 5/16" washers on their edge and pull them using a hook on the end of my slide hammer. I'll do that tomorrow.
 
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roger1

G-Body Guru
Aug 23, 2010
537
767
93
San Angelo, TX
I read that thread a long time ago and considered doing it that way. It just wasn't elegant enough for me and I nixed the idea.
 
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Longroof79

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
G-Body of the Month
Oct 14, 2008
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Nice job man. Subtle difference that most people wouldn't catch. I like it.
 
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roger1

G-Body Guru
Aug 23, 2010
537
767
93
San Angelo, TX
I'm not quite sure I understand the elegant part but that's ok....:)
I wanted mine to look like factory both open and closed. His way doesn't do that. His is not a bad solution at all but not a perfect one.
 
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pontiacgp

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Mar 31, 2006
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Kitchener, Ontario
I wanted mine to look like a factory both open and closed. His way doesn't do that. His is not a bad solution at all but not a perfect one.

now I understand....like I said nice job, it difficult to weld sheet metal without deforming it ..:)
 
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