I'm thinking the safest thing for the time being, until I get back to Texas next winter and have my tools and a work area, would be to install an inline pump with a dash mounted toggle switch. With the inline pump installed I'll have a back-up pump in case the in-tank pump fails. When I get back to Texas I can drop the gas tank and service the entire gas tank and pump system properly, and I'll still have the emergency backup pump system in place if needed in the future. Sounds like a win-win answer to me.
Back in the 1980's I used to go 25-30 miles offshore king mackerel fishing in the Gulf of Mexico in a restored 1956 21' Lone Star cabin cruiser with twin 1960's vintage 40hp Johnsons (equipped with both electric and rope starters). Believe me, I learned to appreciate system redundancy.
