After 6 months of rust and body work, the motor's back in and now runs like crap. Sounds like it's missing on at least one cylinder, possibly two, and blowing all kinds of smoke out. This is for a '76 2.0. As part of the troubleshooting, I have a question about how I routed my gas lines:

1. Part of the project was to replace the fuel lines with SS.
2. I'm pretty sure I routed them correctly, but I have this horrible worry that I didn't and I don't want to pull the gas tank again to troubleshoot. So, I'm trying to figure confirm that they're done correctly.
3. From the tank, I routed the lines like this:
a. tank screen sock fitting --> fuel filter --> fuel pump --> SS line --> passenger intake side
b. other tank fitting --> SS line --> driver side fuel return line
4. Before connecting up the hoses to the intake/outflow connections, I switched the key to "on" and did notice a bit of gas squirt out of what would have been the "return" side, which seemed weird. Because everything was out, the only way I could figure out that happened is if that was fuel trapped in the fuel pump (tank was completely emptied and treated). This seemed to indicate that maybe the lines were switched
5. I went under the car and disconnected the fuel hose from the tunnel SS lines. A bit of gas came out one of the lines, and a constant flow came out of the other. (the gas also seemed quite dirty, which is odd since the tank was treated and everything except the fuel pump is totally new in the car).

So after all that, two questions:
1. Can someone confirm it's correct to route the sock-fitting to the fuel filter and fuel pump?
2. Can I deduce which SS line is which by the gas that comes out of them when disconnected?

You are correct. the line with the fuel sock is the delivery or supply side that goes to the filter and fuel pump. . to figure out if you have the correct line attached at the motor, try blowing into both lines where they come out at the firewall or motor . the return line should blow easily, while the delivery side should have resistance as your blowing thru the fuel pump and the filters. .
That would be my logical approach before filling the tank. .

Thanks for confirming, I'll try to trace the lines and make sure they didn't cross in the tunnel or something. If feels to me like the feed line wouldn't dump out gas if it were disconnected (due to the pump), which is why I'm worried that they're crossed somehow. In retrospect, I should have marked the very ends on each with a "L" and "R" to avoid this, instead of labelling them midway.

Just pull the return hose and put it in a bottle, put another piece of hose on the pipe you disconnected it from and put that also in a bottle. Turn on the ignition and youll see where the fuel comes from?

Such a simple idea - of course. Thanks Falcor.

If car runs, the lines are connected correctly.