Installed a new autometer fuel guage and put about 6 gal gas in tank. The needle barely moved from empty. Did the usual tests. Continuity on the wire from sender to guage, etc. Finally dropped the tank and pulled the sending unit. There is a wire from the housing where the arm of the float is attached, up to the cap that is held in place in the tank by the retaining ring. The brown wire from the sending unit is plugged onto this contact and then into the rear wiring harness, which then goes forward to the dash and subsequently to the guage. Used an OHM meter to test the two contacts while moving the float and got no response. Used one lead from the meter to the housing where the arm from the float is connected, and the other to the plug that the brown wire is connected to, and presto! Move the float and you get valid readings! It seems there is a small fiber washer between the post on the float housing and the wire. I don't think it is making good contact. Thats what the readings seem to indicate. Does this make sense?

Reads like you've located the problem.

You might put a tad of antiseize on the electrical spades just to keep them from rusting later.

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Everett 68/350/PG/11.90/115mph

The sender is like a variable resistance to ground. If you have the brown wire from the sender on one lead and the tank ground wire on the other lead you should see a variable resistance when the float is moved. High resistance is "full" and low resistance is "empty".

If you jumper the brown wire on the harness inside the trunk to a ground, the gauge will go to "empty" with the power on if all is well on the other side(look thru the rear window). If not, you have a problem in the harness going forward or the gauge itself. Hope this helps.

-Mark.