The leak came back on the Bosch VE pump. Since we have other cars and trucks, I only drove it occasionally (Diesel fuel is only "slightly" more flammable than a vanilla milkshake

). I had to do something when it drip passed once-a-second.
I am at another life-has-other-priorities stage of life. My mother in law feel and broke her arm. 8 weeks in a rehab facility (caught COVID, not life threatening for her, but she now requires oxygen). We finally got her moved to an apartment in assisted living.
A couple weeks back, I took a break from pushing paperwork, and removed the VE pump. Sometime in the past, it received a rebuild - Maybe when Continental Baking or Hostess owned the engine. The pump does not owe us anything, 12 years ago, we bought a running 1986 Grumman van for $800. Unknown miles on the engine, the latest (3rd) speedometer shows 71+K miles.
Note that this VE pump has a mechanical shutoff lever. I wanted to eliminate the electrical fuel shutoff solenoid and go to mechanical only shutoff (the wiring on this 1986 F150 occasionally hands me another surprise). I considered ordering a new VE pump from Dieseltuff (nascarmark), but the new pumps no longer have a mechanical shutoff lever.
Scout4bta had good luck with Perkins Diesel Service in Mesa. AZ. I UPSed them my pump and 2 days later got a report back on the pump condition (tired, brittle seals, going to need new internal parts, but rebuildable). A few days later I had it back.
Then got busy with the move. Finally got the pump installed, primed quickly and fired right off. Got out today and put about 90 miles on it, including a 75 MPH run up a steep hill on I-10. Very happy.
HINT: Buy one of these wrenches before attempting an injection pump removal. I did it without this tool, it kicked my 76 year old tail... I removed the air conditioner compressor (unbolted and moved it aside - without discharging the system) and the vacuum/power steering pump (Dodge unit) to give me more room to work.
The biggest struggle was extracting the engine barring tool from the flywheel housing - it did not want to come out - I was hanging over the fender and working with my arms fully extended.
Russ