93 GCaravan fuel guage...Improvise tester?

[strocksr]

Okay, I still dont have a fuel guage working on my van...Iwas going to empty the tank and pull the sender but got dispatched to a job ....so I'm wondering (and maybe one of youelectronics techs could answer this ) What if I got ...say a Radio shack volume control (veriable resistor) and wired 2 wires to it and unplugged the connector from the tank ...attached the 2 wires to the sending unit lugs ...would I be able to theroeticly dial various positions to my dash guage ....this would tell me if its my sender...or guage ...im thinking...am i wrong ...could this work or is there some actual test to determine the sending unit verse's guage....that would keep me from droping my tank unless it's a sure thing ....any help in this would be appreciated...or getting it to work ....or do i jus have that "over active mind" ...haha