43 Inches: Aside from the battery relocated to the engine bay and updated fuel selector, Warrior III's have the same O-320 engine and carby, more modern flat-panel (not the plastic 3D look) dash with a choice of steam or Avidyne glass, updated nav lights and slightly heavier BEW for the same Balance.
I don't really count instrument fit out as part of a type, you could install the new stuff in an old II, paint it up and most would not know it's 40 years old. There's a lot of Navajos flying still that have smick looking panels that I remember flying with a mishmash of old analogue nav/coms from the 60s.
Also fuel could still spill even if fuel exhaustion happened, either from the other tank or from unusable pockets.
In anycase students should be familiar with engine failure vital actions before they go solo. Not very difficult to remember mixture rich, fuel pump on, carby heat hot and change tanks.
Also fuel check on downwind is really about ensuring enough for the flight/continued circuits, and part of that in the PA28 is to confirm which tank is feeding. Switching tanks during a circuit session should be rare really, definitely not something a student should be doing on early solos.
I remember one student who reported post flight rough running that had started in the training area, turned out it was running on only 3 cylinders after one cylinders push rods had completely failed.