I've been asking that myself for awhile now. I need to clean the tank anyway, it's been a few years, I usually do it every 3-4 years, I'm not anticipating much junk inside, don't have fuel issues, but I do like to keep it clean. Modifications (drilling, tapping, hole-sawing) to the existing tank will require a clean dry tank. I could inspect it then, and just go the access plate route if it looks okay, but at 26 years old, am I ever going to be certain I have many more years left ? It would be a huge bummer to do a fair bit of work to the existing tank and have it fail soon. And it won't be exactly what I want. I'm thinking by the time I buy new access plate(s), have welding work done, do a lot of work, for not much more $ I can have a brand new tank ... a custom tank as opposed to stock, exactly the way I want it, perhaps 10% to 20% more fuel, with fittings exactly where they should be, and a bomber, well designed access plate, all would be nice to have.

I definitely need to replace my access plate, it's only 4", a lousy design with one stripped fastener (and not enough fasteners in the first place). That means a new access plate and hole-sawing for that to cover the sins of the old fasteners. Every time I take the access plate off, I'll need to remove the hoses from the fittings welded to the plate, not a biggie, it just seems to me the fittings don't want to be in the access plate if that can be avoided. And if I don't want my pick-up anywhere near the return, and that likely means another access plate.

Cheers, John