removal of auxiliary fuel tanks

For information:- I found removal of the passenger-side tank impossible on a 1988 280GES until I had shortened the breather pipe on this tank by 3cms. The transverse chassis tube prevents the tank being dropped far enough to extract the breather tube from its hole, even after detaching the bumper/wing strut. The breather protrudes into the rear compartment, and needs the interior trim to be removed and a row of holes to be drilled in the metalwork to allow access for a hacksaw blade. Once this piece of pipe has been removed the tank can be removed. Removing 3cms leaves enough sticking up to allow the rubber tube to be reapplied and a jubilee clip fitted. I imagine this situation arises because the tanks were installed in the bodywork before the body was placed on the chassis. The arrangement of breather tubes is different on the drivers side and there are no problems with removal.