Removing gas tank sealer without damaging paintwork ?

[Grewth]

I got given this Heritage Special fuel tank after I bought side panels off eBay.
The tank has rust perforation along the edge of the lower weld seems, and the owner didn't consider it repairable or worth trying to sell.
There's a tank liner been applied, but it's obviously failed.
So I've read that I can strip out the liner using MEK, and possibly remove internal rust using bath soda and a battery charger.
But the tank and panels have an expensive proffesional quality paint job on them, which I believe the MEK could easily destroy.
I'm not sure how exactly to go about this without ruining the paintwork.
OK, it's not exactly to my taste, but it was effectively, free to me, I'd rather not destroy it.
My concern is that although I can probably seal the fuel tap holes and the filler cap hole, I've also got to seal the rust pitting holes too.
Probably easy enough with the ones I can see.
But what about tiny perforations lurking under the paint finish ?
Mission Impossible ?

 

[bosco659]

Those are some large holes. Maybe the best bet is to patch them from the outside. Not sure if JB Weld will be fuel resistant enough to plug the big holes. Trying to save the paint will be a challenge.

 

[OHRider]

A coat of blue masking tape (doesn’t leave much tape residue) then duck-tape. POR-15 comes with patching cloth.

 

[ThatXS650Guy]

I've used this: plastiease with acetone and had good results. Not sure if I used it with MEK. Not cheap, but a little goes a long way.

 

[jetmechmarty]

I've done this. Read all about it here: Failed Tank Liner

What I would do is put masking tape over the holes. Then I would install a Caswell liner. Call it a permanent repair.