I'd say you imagined it, at least the AA/APA part. American was a late comer to 737s. I think it was ALPA and maybe Delta that tried the 737 FE idea. The regs used to say any plane with a Max Gross TO weight over 90,000 would have an FE. Douglas built some baby Nines with the center installed but not connected to keep the MGTW under 90K. Boeing went ahead and rolled the 737-100 out over 90K and went to work lobbying. When the rule got changed to the A/C type certificate will state if a F/E is required, Douglas sent out some fuel lines to their custommers and the MGTW magically went over 90K.
Boeing built some 767s for QANTAS with a F/E panel.