OK..........learned a bit today - sharing for others knowledge if you didn't already know.
Instrument Specialties
https://www.clocksandgauges.com/ is about 10 weeks out on their sender restorations and cost is about $350. I can't wait that long, (I brought the Chevelle up for the summer cruise season since the 409 won't be running for a bit) so I ordered a reproduction sender for $50 and going to see how that goes. Based on others experiences with the repro's I suspect after a while it will eventually quit so I'll get my original rebuilt and have it ready on the shelf when the repro gives up.
I picked up the freshly made 409 radiator this afternoon and brought my original gas tank for him to look at. With a fair amount of work (and expense) he can clean it up. The top is crusty enough that he is worried about not having enough metal after the clean up. It won't look original on the outside any longer and it will cost about 2x-3x a new Spectra one, so I ordered the new Spectra Precision OEM galvanized steel tank (Summit actually had the best pricing) this evening and it will be here by the end of the week with the sender. With any luck I'll be up and running again this weekend.
One thing to note - the radiator guy mentioned that on an original gas tank the filler neck extends into the baffle adding stability to the neck. Evidently on the repro tanks the filler neck doesn't always extend to the baffle therefore it tends to be less stable.
Hoping everything fits and works
