Following up... I ended up both welding AND coating the inside of the tank. Since the welds were small and pin-pointed, I went with using a radiator repair shop to do the work. Their master welder recommended Damon Red-Kote. I showed him all of the nooks and crannnys (is that how you spell that?) in the tank, and he said I could cut it (make it much thinner; thus, allowing it to splash and cover the innards) with acetone. I did my due-diligence and researched it, and chose to use it. I was very happy with the results. I also took the advise of Damon's tech, who said to allow a few pounds of air to flow into the baffle through the drain port to prevent clogging, which I did and it worked (I have that flat pancake baffle, and not the little cylindrical one). Now... On to paint!
Oh, it maintains a flexible coating. It's hard to scratch it once it's applied and dried, but can be repaired in spots with the little you'll have left over in the can and a little paintbrush.
http://damonq.com/red-kote.htmlOh, and the fumes while it drys? The neighbors down the street go a contact high. FYI... The fumes are very dense, very heavy and VERY flammable. No I didn't find out the hard way. :nono
