Early xj fuel tanks vs late xj fuel tanks

Hey guys, I have a 1998 jeep cherokee, it's an inline 6, followed by the ax-15 standard tranny and a 231 the case, and I melted part of the gas tank with the exhaust on my way back from reno last night and started losing fuel. Long story short, I have a buddy with a 1990 and 1995 xj, both of which have 20 gallon fuel tanks, and I was wondering if it's possible for me to use either of these tanks as a replacement for my heep. I've looked around a bit and by looks of it I don't know if my fuel pump will work with the earlier tanks. The junkyards round here punch holes in the tanks before the enter the yard, so i guess my question would be this, would anybody be able to verify whether or not I can use one of these tanks from the early xj or if I'm going to have to cough up the 300 for a new tank for my 1998 xj?
Thanks guys for any advice given

The metal and plastic tanks aren't compatible. I think even the plastic ones have the fuel pump on the top while the metal are on the front. $300! I got one from autozone for $140.

If it were the end of the world you could probably make a '96 tank, pump and sending unit work to get fuel to the engine, but you would lose your fuel gauge. The '97+ sending units speak a different language than the '96 down. The '96 at least has the returnless system and the fuel pressure regulator in the tank, but it is a one year only part.

If you had a ZJ to pull a tank from then that would be worth considering. Your buddy have any of those laying around?

If you had a bunch of money laying around a Genright tank would be worth considering.

Odds are your best bet is to fix the exhaust and order a new plastic tank.