1997 fuel tank issues

[badbart]

Hi folks, not sure if this goes here or not. Not really a drivetrain issue....the midship fuel tank gauge on my 97 F350 quit working a while back. I figured I'd get around to replacing it one day. Then my tank started leaking. I ordered a sending unit and had the tank dropped to see what the cause of the leak was. turns out my tank is rusty, has a pinhole leak, probably from acumulated water over the years. Anyway, was sent the wrong sending unit, but after looking at the old sending unit I see that it is built into the fuel tank pickup tube!? Even if I had the right sender, there is nothing to attach it to. Contacted my local dealer to order the fuel tank pickup with sender attached....guess what? It's obselete! I have a fuel tank coming tommorrow from Oreilly's but it would sure be nice to know how much fuel is in there! Has anyone else run into this issue?! Apparently it's a dealer only item....