I have decided to go ahead and tank boil my gas tank. They said that it would clean it out and take it down the original finish. I will then clear coat and reinstall it. My question is do you have to take the sending unit out to boil the tank? Are there rubber gaskets or something that the chemicals will eat? Also, if I do have to take it off will I have to replace the sending unit or can I reuse the old one? What about the locking ring, can I use the old one? Looking for the cheapest way possible. Thanks.

No, I don't think there are any rubber gaskets besides the one (is there one?) for the sending unit. You could reuse your old one if it worked, I know I would. There's also places that rebuild them out there, I know a certain parts catalog that does it and can also calibrate your speedometer if you send it in with the unit.

You're lucky you can reuse your tank, mine is all dented so I have to get a new one http://www.chevelles.com/forum/frown.gif

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Your sending unit has electrical windings and such that are not intended to be made into soup, so leave that out of the boiling process. I am not sure how the boil would affect the rubber that seals the sending unit to the tank, so leave that out, too.

Thanks for the replys guys. This may sound stupid, but I don't have a lot of money. So instead of boiling the tank I am sanding it back down to the original finish. I am about half done and it has taken me about two days. The guy at the radiator shop said that boiling the tank wouldn't take the rubber coating off of the gas tank. The inside of mine is pretty clean so I am just going to fix up the outside. What kind of protectant should I use to protect bare metal, with leaving the bare metal look? I picked up some rustoleum clear protectant in an aerosol can, is this stuff good? It says it protects bare metal against the elements. What should I get if this stuff is not very good? Thanks for your help.