Fuel pump or Civil War relic?

For any car that has been sitting this long, the first thing I like to do is take a look inside the fuel tank, because over time gas tends to turn into a nasty tar-like substance that can wreak havok on the fuel system. What you are looking at here is the remains of what may have once been a fuel pump, although it looks more like something salvaged from a civil war wreck off the ocean floor. All I can say is WOW. The fuel pick up hose was very degraded and in poor condition; it was already torn and I was able to rip it completely and easily with my bare hands.

The previous mechanic appears to have struck again because the wiring here is also hacked, and I'm not even sure what he did here. The wires from the plug have been cut and some wires are running up from underneath to power the pump? What the $%&?! More hacked wiring madness.

Here is a wider view of the destruction -- you can see more of the hacked wiring here. It also looks like the tank is full of gas, but it is actually very little gas and mostly water. The boot cover was there but the mechanic must not have seen fit to actually place it over the top of the fuel pump boot. I suppose that also partly explains why the fuel pump looks as bad as it does.

I am going to need to empty out the fuel tank and take a look at the the baffle and the rest of the fuel tank contents. I didn't have any rubber gloves handy and I did not want to stick my hands in there with out them. I am also going to need to run to the hardware store to pick up some acetone to clean out the tank. In addition I am going to need to place an order for a pretty much everything from the rigid fuel lines into the tank. About the only thing salvageable here is one of the banjo fittings and the dome nut. The support ring is missing in action, hopefully its in the tank.