Fuel tanks are "terne" plated. Basically tin plated. They don't need to be painted or coated. No gasket required between the straps and tank, its not a Chevelle! There is however pad that goes between the tank and trunk floor. Patton Glade (Pglade) on here makes a very nice repro. If the strap bolts are in good shape, just leave them be. New isn't always better.
Definitely nothing was used on the straps!!! Despite the fact that 50 sellers on ebay sell them, there was no insulation used on the straps. First thing I took off my car when I got it. Drives me crazy, there's 180 lbs of fuel, there's not going to be any squeaking there. Some cars had a pad on top of the tank, some didn't. Patton Glade makes a really nice pad for the top and it's very reasonable. Buick straps were galvanized, Chevy straps weren't and were painted black. So...like Jason said...clean them, paint them, whatever...just don't paint them black. I've used repro tanks, and personally, I do nothing to them. I also drive my cars several K each year, and I'll drive in the rain. The repro tank on my 442 is maybe 15 or 16 years old and still looks great. You just got to wipe it off now and then.
Thanks Frank and Jason! I asked about the insulation since the old tank has insulation that chipped off in several places. It would certainly look better to put a clean and shiny tank in as is. As for the long bolts and clip the are rusted and frozen so I sprayed some Liquid Wrench on them and will let them soak for a few days. Will definitely buy new bolts- hopefully stainless. Will also look into the pad from PGlade for the top
Todd, I will call you to discuss the hardware. Also I went on Quanta’s website and confirmed by phone that the correct 70 tank with 2 vent hoses is GM-34B not GM-34T. (The 34T is the correct model for a 70 Chevelle with 2 vent hoses.). Removed the old tank today. While it looks cruddy on the outside bottom, it looked like new on the inside! Even the sending unit was very clean. Must be because the car has been garage kept since new. Will still replace the tank but will retain the sending unit.
