external fuel pump?

as far as the stock set up on an 85 tc, have any of you had the submerged pump go bad and successfully added and external pump and pulled through the bad pump with no problems? i know its not the right way but its a thought for a temporary fix.

i tryed it on my 84, and it didnt owrk, the external pump jsut grunted like ti was sucking on a golf ball... hehe