Thank you, gentlemen for being considerate enough to reply.

I drained and dropped the tank again this morning and seemed to spend most of the rest of the day chasing things down. Did you know that you can hardly find a good old fashioned soldering iron anymore? Most of them are tiny things for small electrical work (I already have three) and the others are propane/butane fired - not good around flammables. Third stop at Lowe's finally found one.

I found an assortment of 3/8 inch brass elbows in my cache. I soldered one of them into the top of the tank close to the sending unit. I found out why the sending unit wasn't working...the float was hitting the pickup tube and wouldn't go to the bottom of the tank. That accounted for me never having less than 1/4 tank of gas.

The other 90 degree fitting I've put into the fancy s/s fuel inlet. First attempt didn't work because the epoxy didn't hold. My second attempt added a small nut on the inside that holds it secure. This should leave me enough room for the gas pump nozzle.

So, I figure what I have now is when fuel enters the tank, displaced air exits the tank and comes out just above the end of the gas pump nozzle. The fuel inlet is sealed but I drilled a small hole in it to allow some venting.

Tommorow I get my report card. I'll let you know how I did. Actually, I got off fairly well today ... I didn't blow myself up!