I have been ignoring the situation for a while and letting the situation sit. Thanks for your help.

I bought the Bosch, identical to the non-functional one and what I believe to be OE or close. http://www.ipdusa.com/products/6787/101204-in-tank-fuel-pump-200

I washed my hands of the problem (I thought) and sent her out to my usually reliable but K-Jet fearful repair guy. He looked at the car on and off for about a week and said "it's ready!" Went out, he turned the key: same exact problem. Then he said "bad gas?"

I started to worry.

Another week later: "I found the problem!" He basically had screwed around with the fuel distributor and got it to start. I took it home, and almost immediately the car began to SURGE and SURGE and SURGE. Nursed it home. I noticed that the SURGING seemed to correlate to the WHEEZE WHEEZE WHEEZE of the main fuel pump. worse at lower speeds, but bad throughout.

Basically, I don't have any really good diagnostic information to share; I am just depressed about it for the time being and I'm trying to get my head back in the game. I think I may need a new main pump based on the rhythmic surge/wheeze combo, but I think my DIY fuel experiments may be over. I have found another mech that I believe to be more specifically qualified to work on this car, but I thought I would see if you all had some words of wisdom for me before I start throwing money at it.

Thanks!
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1980 242 B21F5 M45 "Inga'