[LT7A]

Originally Posted by PanhandleShantyman

If you're going to pull the tank, you might think about whether you're interested in relocating the tank while you're at it. I know that some guys who don't like the idea of sitting directly in front of the gas tank take it out and put a replacement in the back.

I'm a newbie to these trucks too, and like you I'm new to these old school carbureted / points systems, so if I could pass on 3 very basic things I learned in the last few months getting my '69 from "barely runs" to "daily driver," and that could have saved me grief if I'd known them sooner, they'd be:

1: don't do anything else until you have a CLEAN , SAFE fuel supply. Clogged carb fuel passages are a pain, and fires are even worse... you're right to start where you are with the fuel lines and gas tank.
2: My timing light and vacuum gauge became my best friends. My truck backfired, dieseled, started hard, idled crazy... part of it was timing way off, and the rest was a vacuum leak. If I hadn't learned how to use the timing light and vacuum gauge, I probably would have spent weeks blaming everything on the carburetor and never gotten anywhere. (Before you dive into a carb rebuild you might want to see how far you can get with just setting timing and idle adjustments for good vacuum and then putting in fresh spark plugs/wires.)
3. Almost every problem I've had with an electrical item not working on my truck has been due to lack of ground, usually just due to grime and corrosion where the device housing attaches to the body of the truck.

Happy wrenching! That's a nice looking truck you have there.

-Will

I think the items listed one two and three are top notch advice. The idea of relocating the tank sounds a little ahead of the game based on the rest of the information. Might be worth considering if you feel like you need to buy a new tank. Barring that, it seems like your plan of getting it going with the existing components is a solid one.