[marc silva]

Thank you all for your input! I really appreciate it. Since my car is un restored and the crust around the tank welting has patina and I don't want to disturb that if at all possible I am going to try and re solder it in the car. Here's my plan....

1- I will drain the tank and dry it out completely with my air hose and since its been hot here I will let it sit in the sun for a few days to evaporate real good.
2- I will remove the column (I have to do a minor repair to it anyway) then clean
around bracket right above the horseshoe (the wet area) and anywhere it looks like it needs it with a small wire wheel keeping the disturbance to a minimum. (not much seep but enough to smell like gas)
3- I have a commercial heat gun so I will pre-heat the bracket since it is thicker material and its not an open flame. I may pump in car exhaust just to be safe. Depends on the smell of the dry tank. This is not the first fuel tank I have soldered but the first that I didn't want to mess up the paint.
4- I have a heavy duty electric soldering iron that I use for sheet metal soldering so while the bracket is already hot I am thinking that I will be able to use the iron along with flux and solder and I hope it flows like I think it will without disturbing too much of the fuel tank finish and patina.

I feel pretty confident that I can make it work. I just need to take my time. If it turns out not to behave the way I would like it to, I will be very careful and yank it out and turn it upside down and do it on the bench.

There are a few more details of course that I didn't mention but this is the basic idea. Any thoughts?