I agree totally with "SVOboy"
 

It sounds as tho' you've been caught between the bean counters and Murphy's Law.... You often drive until the engine "sputters"...then find gas? Do you realize what is happening here? Your in-tank electric fuel pump is ANOTHER el cheapo unit (bean counter-mandated) which uses the gasoline as a coolant for the windings! Too low a gas level tends to expose the pump (parts that need additional cooling) to the non-liquid atmosphere. After many times of doing this...Oops! No pump! I found out the hard way...my '86 'Vette had a "miles left in tank" feature on the display (computer)...it didn't bother to tell me about "dry" (hot!) pump! So...long story short... I burned my pump out , searching for last- mile gas stations! No more! The 1/4 mark on my gauge spells "Empty"! No more problem....

Run it low and then pump the rest of the gas out into a gas can and measure how much you get out of it. Then do the pump - pickup removal - you may find a bunch of sand in the tank or you have a big dent in the bottom.

Did it have a beak and feet? Just wonderin' :D