Finally success! I used the plug from a 3 wire non-high temp sending unit off an earlier model on the 4 wire high temp sending unit that fit the tank I bought and voila, fuel gauge dropped to empty
. It was just a hunch, but it worked! It was a bit of a pain removing the wire pin's and carefully removing the pressed in plug to the top of the sending unit, but worth it to have a functioning fuel gauge!
Thanks to all that responded to the thread helping me troubleshoot this issue.
I love this message board!