Ford - E150 :: 1995 - Acting Like Running Out Of Fuel - Fuel Pressure Regulator?

Today, my 1995 E150 suddenly started acting like it was running out of fuel Lucky for me, this happened close to both a parts store and my usual mechanic's shop. Unluckily for me, it happened on Saturday, and my shop can't get to it until Thursday. So here I am, hoping to do a fix in the meantime.

At first, it seemed that it must have been the fuel pump, because I couldn't hear it come on when I turned on the ignition. Then, a guy who said he was a mechanic told me he could hear the pump cycling, and that my problem was the fuel pressure regulator. So he managed to start the vehicle after a few tries, then it crapped out again. He did this twice. Then he went away.

I called every parts store in town, and none of them had a fuel pressure regulator for my vehicle, and the earliest any of them could get one was Monday. But I knew I was due for a fuel filter, and I'd changed filters on this vehicle before, so I got one of those and put it in. To my delight, the van started right up and idled beautifully. In fact, it ran beautifully for about 15 minutes, until I came to a slight rise, then it crapped out again. It still started up and idled smoothly, and even revved up smoothly, until it reached a high idle speed, at which point it crapped out. I did manage to limp into the parking lot of my shop - which, again, can't get to it until Thursday.

So my question is: does this sound like a fuel pressure regulator to you? If so, is that a job which somebody with a reasonable mechanical aptitude (i.e., at least good enough to change the fuel filter) should be able to feel safe doing? If the answer to those two is "yes" (or even if it's "no")....