Most people do buy fuel grade rubber hose, cut a v-notch in the end of the hose, and clamp it onto the sending unit to repair the pickup.
For the venting upgrade, if you plan on just using the car type diesel pumps, there was a thread on here where people were taking a screwdriver and opening up the slot where you fill the tank to help more air get out.
I wanted to be able to use the big truck pumps, so I chiseled out the filler neck piece to accept the larger fill nozzle, and then took out the white plastic breather/roll-over valve on top of each tank, and installed a copper elbow into the rubber grommet. I have also heard that a 1/2" pipe elbow will also thread into the rubber.
I then slipped a rubber hose onto the fitting and ran it over and way up into the empty area behind the bedside, and tied it there with a loop and a screen on the end to keep bugs out. Your elbow needs to be really short on the rear tank, because there is not much room between the top of the rear tank and the bed.
Some people also take the filler neck out and weld/solder a fitting there to hook the new breather line. This is a better way to do it, but of course takes more time than I had when I did it.
You won't believe how much better it fills with the larger breather pipe on top of the tank.
