Seems earlier K's (51 anyway) had a raised area in the trunk floor that made it easier to access the sender unit connection atop the tank. On my (early) 53 there is no such and it is a beast trying to do anything without dropping the tank, which isn't really that big a deal. Wire does tend to rub off insulation, so replacement, along with the rubber hose connector is a good idea. Once one has gone through all that, it isn't that big a deal to clean out the tank and check for leaks. This might open a pinhole that was being plugged by crud, so I did line with some JC Whitney ethanol resistant stuff. Again, this wasn't a biggie. I'd also carefully check the steel line that comes out of the tank for integrity. My idea was that as removal is the biggest part of the effort, one might as well make sure everything else is coolsville as well.
That said, my car is a lifetime WI resident, and rust issues are severe. If you are in a less salted part of the country, you might skip some of these steps.