I think I finally made it?

[Fast355]

Thanks again, guys.
I hadn't given serious consideration to fuel starvation...
When it comes time to retrofit the Walbro pump to my tank, I'll see what sort of baffle/pan I can fit through the tank opening. I have a full machine shop at my disposal, and I can fabricate just about anything.

I occasionally buy wrecked vehicles to rebuild and sell. I've done quite a few Jeep TJ's, had to drop a couple gas tanks to rework other stuff, even replaced a couple fuel pumps on TJ's, but I never peeked inside the tank!!
More knowledge is such a dangerous thing.

For retrofits, hard to dismiss Holleys excellent Hydramat product. Had I not looked at a Dorman tank that had a massive baffled area added to it for the G-vans, I would have used a Hydramat for it. Would have been cheaper than a new tank, but just barely, but the tanks for those vans are dirt cheap.

The hydramat material works like a sponge, holding fuel inside of it for the pump to pickup. I used it on a carbureted tank on an EFI conversion and it lets the engine run until the tank is bone dry. In some conversions where tanks are $$$ or not available with baffling, the hydramat is an excellent alternative to tank modifications. The one I used looked like a fuel sock with a 3/8 NPT fitting. 3/8 NPT to 3/8" hose barb and adapted to the 3/8" fuel tube with a piece of hose rated for immersion.

When the hydramat stops pulling fuel when it is sitting on the bottom of the tank, you are out of fuel.

[steveo]

fuel starvation in vehicles with extreme angles is a very interesting problem with lots of neat solutions

my jeep wj has a pump that lives in a bucket in the tank, just like most GMs, uses a siphon jet type pickup from the main fuel sump. i've had that thing almost upside down and tipped over with barely any fuel in it, and never felt a stumble

but a small separate tank (we call them a vapor separator tank in the marine world) solves lots of issues too

[Strippperguy]

As I've been saying, I bought an EFI kit from Affordable Fuel Injection guys.
Their kit is essentially the same as another, well known kit, that is CARB compatible for those CA residents.
the AFI kit cost, delivered, was just over $900.
My son in law just purchased that "other" kit for a Ford 300 cu in straight six, at a cost of a little over $1,600.
As far as I can tell, both kits are the same...same ECM, same sensors, very similar wiring harnesses, etc.

Well, he spent the last 3 days trying to get that "other" kit to run that Ford engine. No idle, backfiring, rough running (if running at all).
Checked every sensor, connection, looked for possible vacuum leaks, you guys know the drill. We found no problems, had no codes.
As luck would have it, my AFI kit arrived yesterday.
This morning we swapped in my ECM, with whatever chip the AFI guys supplied that was tailored to my slightly modified Jeep 258.
With my ECM and chip, his Ford engine ran perfectly!! We then swapped my chip (or is it PROM?) into his ECM, no go.

So, bottom line, his $1,600+ kit was delivered with a bad ECM. My "bargain" priced kit seems even more of a bargain to me now.
And, with just that little time working with this stuff, and reading the pages here, I feel pretty comfortable with the TBI stuff.
Anyway, just thought I'd share my experience, in case anyone else is running into a similar issue.

[MO LS Noobie]

Glad things worked out for you, and you figured your son-in-law's truck out also. It helps to get these dialed in to understand carburetors and what the various settings are that affect drivability, and what those parameters are when dealing with the fuel injection computers. I think you'll have many happy miles with your Jeep.