Long story short. My dad bought a '79 glastron 17ft boat for my sister for her graduating with a masters. Boat is in mint condition. Has sat inside for last 25 years. Runs like a champ. For some reason somebody took the original fuel tank out and was running remote tanks. We decided to buy a new permanent tank and put it in to make the fuel gauge work and all that jazz. Boat ran fine on remote tank. Put in new moehler tank and the bulb won't prime. Its a bulb and line we bought three weeks ago and used it on the remote tank. Vent is hooked up correctly and is free and clear. Have tried different fittings on the tank side with no luck at all. Any ideas on WTF this thing is doing? Only variable is the fuel tanks.
Bulb wants to stay collapsed and soft when you squeeze it.

fuel pickup. has anti-siphon which has probably too stiff a spring on the check ball.

How does one go about fixing that? I'm assuming take the pick p tube out and remove the spring?

it is built into the elbow at the top of pickup tube. replace it with pipe elbow to check it. i think it is 1/4 pipe. those tanks are really designed with mech fuel pump from i/o's in mind. might not be bad. just too tough for outboard pump to draw through.

I'm assuming you are referring to the block that the fittings thread into that swivels 360*?

This may sound stupid, but it's been done before. Have you got the primer bulb hooked up and running in the right direction?

Yes the arrow is pointing towards the motor

yes it is in the elbow at the top. the more i think about it, it is way too stiff for the little vacuum diafragm pump on a 2 stroke outboard. ask an outboard dealer what to use in it's place. a tubing elbow will work, but i hate to recommend it. is the tank below the hose all the way to the engine? if so, it is less of a threat.

Talked to moeller marine today. The tank has no factory installed check valve. You can blow bubbles in the gas by blowing back thru the hose. I'm really thinking that the bulb has **** out

The bulb or you are drawing air around the fitting. Did you put a sealer on the tank fitting?