beat the **** outta the tank with a rubber hammer or a piece of round pipe. try an knock some of the crap around

 

the bottom of the tank? and how hard is it to drop the tank?

 

not hard at all aslong as the bolt's on the strap's arent rusty as hell . just use a floor jack to jack up the tank enough to take the pressure off the strap's. take off the bolt's for the straps and slowly let the tank down evenly. Just make sure u dont let it down too fast so you dont break the hoses to the fuel pump. and i'd suggest draining the tank before you do this just makes it a ****ton easier to deal with the tank.

 

where is the drain at for the tank?

 

see thats the tricky part. there isnt one, you can do it the oldschool way and use a garden hose to suck the gas outta the tank and once you get it to flow freely just let it pour into a gas can. just make sure the hose is lower than the tank so it will continue to flow.

or you can goto the autopart's store and buy a cheap scyphin kit. it's for draining gas by using a pump that sucks the gas out of the tank. either way you're going to want to try an get as much out as possible to make your job easier and also you dont want to mix old gas with new gas unless you absolutely need to

 

what is the cylinder on this side of gas tank mounted on the frame?

 

charcoal canister

 

what is its purpose and if its fill with dirt should i try and clean it or replace it?

 

It captures fuel vapors and then stores the fumes and recycles them to the fuel tank or engine intake for combustion as needed, basicly just makes your exhaust cleaner and gives you a little bit better mpg. that isnt going to be your problem.

 

i have the jack under tank now. so do i disconnect any hoses before the straps?