Access to accumulator vent hose on top of left tank?

I am in the process of replacing the accumulator vent hose on my 87 328, along with a bunch of other fuel system work including lower sleeves, fuel pump, accumulator, filler neck hose, and other plumbing. So far I have been working through the left wheel well to do everything and progress has been good even though I can only put in 1-2 hours a day.

I removed the filler neck today (surprisingly the old hose looked excellent). I can see the accumulator vent hose going into the top of the left tank and was able to loosen the clamp with a long screwdriver. The hose is stuck pretty good. I don't want to horse on it and risk breaking the nipple off the tank but I can't really access it with a knife. Access in general is poor up there with my big hands. Does anyone have tricks to get better access to that area or work on that particular hose?

Seems like I could remove the ignition coils/modules to get better access to the upper part of the left tank from the engine bay but I am reluctant to mess with that stuff unless I absolutely have to -- I have enough to screw up with the fuel system, I figure it would be a bad luck to tear into the ignition system too.

thanks,
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