2.3L ('83-'97) Plastic vs. Metal Fuel Pump/Tank Lock Rings & Seals?

[lowspeedpursuit]

So this doesn't really go in here, because I don't think it's engine-specific, but it also doesn't seem to go anywhere else.

I'm doing the fuel pump on my '94, and I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. I bought the Delphi HP10141. It comes with some kind of tabbed metal ring that isn't part of my old setup and doesn't seem like it would fit anywhere. It also comes with a replacement o-ring seal that's slightly smaller (<1/4" difference) in diameter than my old one. If the o-ring slid over a lip it would stretch into place just fine, but it doesn't. It just sits there. There's no lip on either the tank or the pump assembly, and the new o-ring definitely wouldn't seal.

It seems to me like there must be two different styles of lock rings on these trucks? The metal lock ring I was sent, which takes a slightly smaller seal, and the plastic lock ring I have, which takes a slightly larger one. Search is turning up Dorman 55817, which looks like what I want, but I'd like to be able to confirm. I'm finding negative information about this discrepancy, or any way I might be able to come up with the right seal urgently, in real life, today. The people at all the parts stores are also pulling up the metal ring and looking at me like I have three heads.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: So the Dorman part seems to be listed as fitting '98-'05, which I guess might raise the possibility that someone swapped my truck's fuel tank, except that my '95 parts truck looks just like mine, as does, for example, this guy's.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Ford likes to change things, and auto parts stores have no idea what they are doing and their computers are usually even more useless...

I just looked at a picture I had of my '97 and it has a metal lock ring, and I know my '90 does as well, that's not saying that somewhere between there they didn't do something different...

That said, if the rubber on the original seal is still decent looking and not broken I'd just leave it...

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Or if broken go to an industrial supply place and get the correct o-ring.

 

[lowspeedpursuit]

I ended up putting it back together with the old seal, since I was only doing the fuel pump because the bed was off for a body lift, and it was more important to get the bed back on today while I had help lined up. Still like to get the parts sorted out, if possible, in case it ever starts leaking--or just for reference.

The Dorman crosses to Spectra LO179, which they have at the Autozone a few towns North. At some point I might take the parts off my '95 tank up there and see if they match. NAPA suggested cutting one out of sheet gasket, although they only had 1/8" and my old seal looks 3/16". I should have measured the ID/OD to check in generic catalogs while I had it in my hand, but I was pissed because of traffic and it slipped my mind.