Brickers:

Having done a bunch of work on my 1985 745t's fuel system lately, I've been blown away by two apparently foolish layout choices. As such, I'm wondering if anyone has noticed that the following are issues:

1) The fuel filter and main pump are fully EXPOSED to elements under the driver.
2) The exterior of the sender assembly and electrical connections are exposed on the back of the tank.

My main pump and filter look horrible, mostly on account of the fact that they are clearly exposed in their current position. Additionally, the electrical cable to my sender rotted off due to exposure (in case you haven't noticed, there is a gap of about 1-2mm between the plastic connector and the exterior of the sender plate).

I believe that the the filter was moved to the engine compartment in later models (a wise move imho, if just for servicing access). Has anyone thought about moving the main pump? I realize its currently positioned at the lowest point in the fuel system, but with the pre-pump's assistance in fuel delivery this shouldn't matter, should it? Why couldn't you just stick it in the engine compartment as well and let it pull fuel up with the assisted push from teh pre-pump?

On the sender plate issue, is there a reason Volvo didn't afix a protection plate (plastic or otherwise) to the back of the tank under the assembly to keep the nasty road elements under the car where they belong?

Just a speculative post. Any thoughts welcome.

-Rick