Fuel Tank Removed!!!

That might not seem like that exciting of a feat, but when we decided to remove the fuel tank we simply removed the straps and lifted, but it would NOT come out. I say "we" because my dad was here for Christmas and was excited to help me with my project, so we hit the jeep together for a solid 5 hours. We left the tank and went to testing our strength by removing the lugs from the combat rims, which were also VERY stubborn despite the hallucination-inducing amount of penetrating nut/bolt loosener we sprayed on them. Once the old tires were removed and the combat rims successfully split apart (I'll post pics of those tomorrow) we went back to the fuel tank and just started to wiggle it. And wiggle. And tug, and wiggle. Finally after at least 10 minutes of wiggling, pulling and wrestling with the tank, it started to move and we finally got it out...with much rejoicing! As with most of these jeeps, the the tank recess contained a ridiculous amount of dirt, leaves, nails, and crud. It doesn't look too bad, and here are photos of it right after coming out of the tub.

And here is the empty recess - not as rusted out as I would have thought given the amount of junk that was in there: