Cleaning your gas tank

I have this 1958 Suburban and the gas tank is in excellent condition on the outside. But debris keeps coming out of it even after repeated gas tank treatments. I don’t want to buy another gas tank if this one is still good. I was thinking of cutting it neatly in half along the original seam and cleaning and polishing the inside. Then put on the best coating I can find – or whatever one would do to bring it back to original perfectly functioning condition. And re-welding it back together, grind the welds and paint it. I realize that it would take a skilled welder to do this correctly and I have someone in mind who could do it. What do you all think?

There are several approaches to this, one being the do-it-yourself cleaning and sealing kits. What I did was to go to a radiator shop, they boiled the tank out (took a couple of weeks to get rid of all the crud) and then they sealed it inside and out. It’s guaranteed not to leak; about $150.00. Anyway, some of the home kits are cheaper but may not work as well if the crud is pretty stubborn. I think I’d do that before I did any cutting. (Welders sometimes are a little skittish about welding gas tanks anyway!).