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Well, it seems that my stumble and hesitation is not likely ignition, but debris in my in-tank filter pickup or the at the right angle fitting on the fill plate. It does seem to fit my truck's recent mis-behaving. Right now, it is at the flat bed driver's place out in the country. So my plan is to pull the plate, and inspect and then replace the fine metal mesh filter. My fuel lines from the tank forward are new and dual filtered.

But I have a lot of fear of gas tanks exploding: my wife's brother long ago spent nearly a year in a burn unit from an exploding fuel tank he was working on. And I narrowly escaped my own death when my TR8's tank blew up from a leak, moments after I walked out of my garage.

So I have ordered hard plastic scrapers from McMaster car, and can wear my Nomex flight suit and gloves, and want to be sure I do not have any spark risks, my tank has maybe 5 or 6 gallons in it.

My battery lines have a master cut-off switch, and I will try to eliminate any static sparks. I was thinking about getting some dry ice and letting that into the tank, perhaps in a sock or some mesh. My plan is to spray some Kroil or similar on the plate screws, and let that sit a day or so. If the attachment screws are brass and not buggered up I hopefully can get this done without some sort of mis-adventure. For those who have done so, with the tank under the bed, any suggestions would be appreciated. I have appropriate fluid wrenches. hal

Hal,
After a good soaking, use a screwdriver that fits very well, grind as necessary. Under the screws there are lead crush washers, be prepared to replace those and the gasket. If you need to use any sealant don't use RTV! It will fail. Hopefully yours will be in good shape and come off easily.

Andy

thanks, I presume Dodge made sparking less likely. hal

Look for and use BRASS tools. I have brass screwdrivers and certain size wrenches.
Just an idea.

Brass tools? More like Beryllium Copper non-sparking tools.

Much adoo about nothing, IMO. If the tank is empty, washed out, the possibility of some screw removal causing any explosion is nil.

In my half-century of M37ing, never has there been any problem changing out the pickup tube or level sender.

Soldering/welding on it is another matter.

PoW

Drain and store the gas! Let project sit overnight to reduce vapors (the only thing that can ignite).
Don't be tempted to use a shop vac to remove flamable liquids.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-0-PH-ZU_0 skip to about 10 minutes to see the explosion

'all good since, and my concern was because I did this in the heat of the summer, and my tank had perhaps 5--10 gallons in it, and draining it was not an option. With a new top plate and new screws and gaskets it was an easy and ultimately safe repair. Welcome to our forum. Hal

oh, by the way, I bought an assortment of plastic scrapers for use which turned out to be not necessary. hal