firstly, welcome Caveman...... how's the wooly mammoth hunting been lately?? hehehe
back to your question..
What do you mean 'the cowl's lifted'? You're chopping the rear body off for a new tub, or just replacing the rear deck/floor?
Just so we're talking about the same thing, the 'cowl' includes the firewall, dash, and front door sills (front door hinges bolt here), and provides a place for the hood and windshield to bolt to. The cowl bolts to the frame with two bolts that you access from the driver/pass floor right at the base of the A-pillar. (actually, there's another two attachment points if you still have your running board. There's little 'outriggers' from the frame that the running boards are supported by. The outriggers are a piece of 'U'channel' aprox 8 inches long)
The 'tub' starts at the base of the firewall, and includes the everything rear of the driver/pass floor like the; transmission tunnel, wheel wells, 1/4 panels, etc. The tub bolts to the frame with four bolts (two under the rear sill and another two under the B-pillar). (the four rubber body-mount-looking-pucks under the rear floor crossmembers are just pads. They bolt to the underside of the floor and 'float' on the frame)
OK, back to the question at hand...
I pulled my tank while I was chopping & replacing everything on the trucks body behind the B-pillar. I cut the rear floor at the rear edge of the main body x-member (between the B-pillars). Without unbolting any body bolts, or 'tilting the cowl', I was able to drop the tank from the underside of the truck. Thinking back, the only parts I needed to remove were the; rear drive shaft, heat shields/skid-plates associated with the fuel tank, E-brake cable, Fuel tank hoses & fuel level wire. Then, the next step is removing the fuel tank straps.
Dropping the tank can be made LOTS EASIER by draining all the fuel from the tank (its amazing how even a little extra weight turns it from a small wrestling match to a full-blown WWF battle!!!)
Actually, come to think of it, I already had my rear floor (behind the B-pillar) out at this point, but I don't THINK it would have interfiered with droping the tank.
Having said all this, reinstallation was made far easier by bolting the tank to the underside of the body (with the body totally seperated from the frame when it came back from the painters), and then lowering the body/tank assembly onto the frame.
Whoa.... hows that for a rant.
Hope that help, but post up more questions if you need clarification.
Cheers,
Steve
btw, Where on the S.Island? I'm going to M & D's in N.Saanich for a few day's over Xmas.
