Options for painting gas tank?

[Thearne3]

Hi all,

Finally getting ready to paint my 68B. My understanding is that all Model As were painted with gas tank already installed. So when they painted the body, the welting was painted on the outside and the area between the tank and firewall was left in primer(?) Can anyone confirm?

I believe I will paint the doors and rear hatch off body for convenience. However, I'm looking for advice on the tank, which is in great shape and could be left in place with no restoration (rust, etc) concerns.

The body is over the frame (no fenders), but raised on saw horses (maybe 8" above the frame). The drive train makes standing in the footwell to paint challenging, but doable.

Am I better off completely moving the body off the frame and getting better access? (this would also reduce the masking/plastic over the drivetrain).

Any tips? Am I overthinking this?

Thanks!

PS I DID try to find the answer with search, but couldn't find anything...