The fuel cell is out

Today I was finally able to remove the old fuel cell.  The old fuel cell needed to be replaced because it was too old and more importantly, I want to reduce the size of the fuel cell and steal some of that space so that I can fit a longer-than-stock engine.  Even though the original engine was a V-8, it was only 22 inches long including all of the accessory drives!  For reference, a small block Chevy block is 21 3/4 inches, but that doesn't include the timing cover or any of the pulleys and accessories.  All of that stuff probably adds another six inches or more to the front of the engine.

My first choice is to use a Chevy LS engine.  The block is about as long as a SBC, and if I use an electric water pump, then I'll only need accessory drives for an alternator and the dry sump pump.  If I use the short harmonic balancer off of an LS4, then the accessories should only protrude into the fuel cell area about 4 inches.  I'm trying to avoid stretching the wheelbase because I don't want to change the look of the car or have to modify the bodywork.  I'm on the hunt for a scrap LS block and heads so that I can start checking fitment and maybe even start working on motor mounts.

Now back to the fuel cell.  The fuel cell is protected in the back of the tub behind this metal bulkhead.

The bulkhead is mainly held on with like 20 Allen-headed cap screws, but it won't come off unless you first remove the drive gear for the external fuel pump.  It's the part in the photo below that looks like a weatherman's hurricane symbol.

In my case, the drive was stuck on the shaft and no amount of PB Blaster and prying would free it so I resorted to grinding off the little wings and that allowed me to remove the bulkhead.

Then it was just a matter of disconnecting the inlet and vent fittings and the fuel cell basically slid out.  The inlet port area did give me a little trouble because after sliding back about two inches, that ring was catching on one of the tub-to-engine mounting studs.  But the fuel cell was just pliable enough that I was able to push it inward to clear and then it came out the rest of the way.