TOPIC:

Im thinking if someone had to seal the tank then chances are that its porous and leaked in which case you're gonna loose the paintwork getting the crap sealer out. if sealing isnt done properly then the fuel gets behind it making it lift.
try contacting the manufacturers and see what they say about a solvent to remove the sealer.
damned if you do and dammed if you dont i think

Ian

great point, I did not consider that. I have sealed a few in the past but only due to rust, never encountered a leaker. Thanks for pointing this out and I am afraid you may be right. I have found a few places that are willing to tackle this. One place in florida for 500 plus shipping and a local radiator shop. I may just try my old way, fill it with varsol and stick a steam hose in and let it boil. Works great with varnish and rust, followed by filling it with ss nuts and bolts and shaking the hell out of it and repeat until clear. But this sealer is a different animal. Considering your pointing out the obvious possible futility, DIY may be the way. Anybody with a tip on removing the sending unit?

Not sure why you'd be having a problem removing the sending unit. It's held in with 6 ?? 5mm x 8mm pan head screws looking at the picture of it.

got it. the cover protecting the unit was difficult to get off, and not knowing what was underneath it I didn't want to break anything. Now it goes out for walnut shell blasting of the interior. Got a recommendation to try that and a non chemical treatment to remove the crap inside and not disturb the original paint outside sounds like it is worth a try.

A mixture of molassis and water at 10-1 will get rid of the rust. Peach juice will also do the trick but it is harder to get.

I find myself yearning for (mildly acidic) molasses or peach juice. I gave the tank to an industrial painting contractor to blast the inside with walnut shells, said he has done it before with success. After a couple of days he told me he had some stubborn spots of sealer and would get that with MEK. I am very familiar with this chemical and advised him to be careful with the paint. Well, I got the tank back today with his apologies for his guy spilling methyl ethyl ketone all over the outside of the tank. The good news is the interior of the fuel tank is clean and I am hopeful to close a deal buying a carb set from a very prominent member of this forum. I still need to go through the brakes and replace the cables, but hope to ride this before the first snow. It feels a bit odd prepping my other bikes for winter storage while resurrecting this one, but I am really psyched.