Last year, my son and I tried to install new gauges in his 1952 1/2 panel. They are the Woodward Series from New Vintage. The truck has a 350/350 combo with an open drive line. After loosening the tank straps we found that there wasn't enough room to maneuver the tank away from the frame to drop it. The drive shaft was in the way. (The front brakes are from a GM 3rd Generation F body 1982 to 1992. I'm not sure if the drive shaft and rear end are from the same era or not. This is an old restoration/modification from about 25 years ago.) We figured we would drop the drive shaft, remove the tank, install the new sending unit (the original fuel gauge was not working and not sure if it was because of the gauge or the sending unit so decided to put the new sending unit in. We were able to remove 3 of the u-joint bolts but the third was seized. Used a 12 point socket (didn't have a 6 point at the time) and rounded the head of the bolt a bit. So we buttoned everything back up and planned on doing the job later. Now it's later but we haven't the time to do it as we adopted a couple of rescue dogs (and one was pregnant) so we are dealing with 5 dogs instead of two. Decided to get a local garage to remove the tank and install the new snding unit. They couldn't get the last u-joint bolt out either. They tried a bit of heat, socket, and an extraction tool but it wouldn't budge. They didn't want to go too crazy with the heat because of the proximity to the tank and gas fumes. My son needs his truck for an event this weekend (he uses it for a business) so they said they would put everything back together so he could use it. (They said they could work more on it but couldn't guarantee if it would be ready today (Friday)). Any suggestions on how to get the tank (or sending unit) out without setting the truck and shop on fire? Thanks.

It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it.