yea i was gonna say, in "o=f/a" when you divide anything by a smaller number, "o" will increase....
so by plugging in random numbers, regardless of F is greater than a, that equation actually states that stress will increase with less area...
...if theres some way that makes it work out differently, just explain and ill admit im wrong

<--- Stevens Insititue of Technology

got to stop drunkin posting...
:)

I'll try to dig up some more references, and post same.

well i don't know how the units of force and area would convert, but in most cases of performance....there would be more area to the car than force on the car. like on a skid pad or launch from the hole. but when you start talking about brick walls and trees, more force would be applied to a smaller area thus creating much more stress. i think in terms of a car, there is more number crunching than that equation imposes. either way, holes in unibodies is not helping otherwise GM would have done it. and on third gens with metal lines on the sending unit, you need at least 6inches cut to the driverside to pull it out. no quick disconnects.

Heres the work me and Alex did on my car:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y15...Z/P3260002.jpg

I already went through the hassle of dropping the rear and tank twice, but not only did I not feel like going through it again in the rain, but like Alex, I have a welded y-pipe now so it would clearly be more of a problem than before. Also, it's an aftermarket walbro pump, so I'm sure I will have great use of this access panel time and time again.

EDIT: we used electric sheers, after measuring and masking we had it cut out in 5 minutes.

Looking at it from the other side, its not where I would want a hole..

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...3/DSC01134.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...3/DSC01133.jpg

Well, to finish it up properly I'm pretty certain you can screw a plate back over the top of it to get some of the strength back.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y15...Picture049.jpg

Here it is all sealed up. Any bare metal was painted right away and I put a bead of seam sealer around the perimeter of the hole as well as around the screws to keep any water or possible debris from getting inside the car.

did it the same way on my 92, saved a lot of work