Could it be the rusty gas???

[1972_Buford]

In tracing my issues with the intermittent stalling and dying I think I have narrowed it down to the gas tank now. I pulled the fuel line to check the filter at the carb (rochester) and noticed the fuel was a bit red. I pumped some into a cup and noted small pieces of debris and it was dirty. I looked into the tank and saw the bottom 1/3 of the tank is covered in rust. (and yes some on here have told me to check this out but I am hard headed) I am guessing this is not good and could be why it stalls on me.

I have run it empty before and put fresh gas in it so I do not think there is an bad gas/varnish in there but the PO said it did sit for about a year.

My question is, wouldn't the rust clog the filter altogether and cause it not to run at all?? is this really why it runs awesome then dies about 20 minutes into the drive? (starts back up with some coaxing).

I am going to run as much as out as I can then pull the tank and get to scrubbing on it. I know I can buy a new tank but I don't want to spend the money on that right now as I plan on the camaro rear conversion on this in the summer.