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I found some links on the net that are very interesting about painting aluminum, both with marine fuel tanks and the boats themselves. It would appear that, as you have noticed when removing your fuel tank, and also I noticed when removing mine from the 1986 Outrage 18, Boston Whaler used some kind of extreme barrier between the foam and the tank that is VERY hard to remove from the outside of the tank. I think this is required due to the standards by which the boat was built. See this PDF:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&...1363,d.b2k

Contrary to what others have posted regarding painting aluminum fuel tanks, it appears that there is a process that must be followed in order to paint aluminum. The aluminum must be chemically prepped and primed before painting or foaming in order for the paint or foam to stay on the tank and not actually cause more corrosion than leaving it unpainted. See this, and scroll down to the section entitled "The Trouble with Tanks".
[url]http://www.boatingmag.com/boats/protecting-aluminum-boats-salt-water-corrosion
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Also, this: [url]http://www.fishingunited.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=440
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I am sure there are many more good references available regarding aluminum fuel tank painting, but these are a few I found. I have left my built in Boston Whaler fuel tanks unpainted upon boat restoration, and instead have tried to insure they meet ABYC standard externally between the tank and the foam, just as Boston Whaler originally did when my boats were made.