I had had the car 4 months and the guy I brought it off told me he had changed it about a year before i brought it, even so changing the foam is a shit job no matter how you look at it, even worse if you have to do it every year or so and if it does give up early you are in the same boat i was or worse, is it worth it.
Just run a full or near full tank or a surge tank, personally I am not a fan of external surge tanks with the return line from the engine going to it and heating the fuel in the surge tank up, my surge tank is welded on the tank and is gravity fed with the return going into the top of the tank on the opposite side from the pick up