Paul L

Lance,

Thanks for the compliment. Much appreciated! When I bought the car I thought they were Centerline Drag wheels; much loved by the dragstrip crowd in the 1970s. But after buying I dug into a few mechanical things as I am want to do when buying old Corvettes. Safety matters as you can imagine (just checking sometimes). As it turns out those are are Enkei wheels - Made in Japan. I have no idea how old they are. They had some curb rash that I had repaired and aside from those cosmetics they have been flawless in terms of balance.

I had visions of replacing them but they kind of grew on me: I rather like them.



Here is that wheel BEFORE.

Paul L

Exactly, a big hole.

7T1vette

Remove the gas cap and the fill tube goes directly down to the tank just a few inches lower. Yes, you can look right into the tank.

And, no...with the gas lid up but the cap still on, there should be no gas smell. If a strong smell of fuel is present there, the gasket on your gas cap is missing or disintegrated. There should also be a rubber 'boot' that fits tightly around the tank filler tube and extends out beyond the opening for the gas lid. You should not be able to see the top of the tank from around the filler tube/cap.

VeroL81

Interesting converation...

Is the smell exaust, oil, gas, coolant or freon? They all have very specific aromas - and a keen nose can zero in on the problem!

gq82

Your car might be running very rich and what your smelling is unburned hydrocarbons which does create quite a stink.

I'm not sure about the gas cap gas smell....if in 69 the system was sealed (what's printed on the gas cap?) then no you should not be smelling gas.....if it was a vented system then you might very well smell gas.

Vette5.5

Haven't put in a wall exhaust fan, but you're wanting one with a louver on it. A roof attic style vent fan would probably be easiest. Also, consider the gas you're using. Was running BP brand gas in my snow blower during the winter that had some kind of additive in it. Was continually gassing out with the unit just sitting there, and nearly stunk me out of the place. Yes, into the house too.

72VETTELS5

I was under the impression the OP was talking about garage fumes other than the car, like solvents or aerosols, etc. If so, the fan idea from Terry82 looks pretty slick, it's something I've been looking into.

69VetteFla

Not near my car or I would post a pic of what I am talking about - when you remove the gas cap there is nothing but the inside of the tank there, correct? On ecklers the parts Filler Neck Seal and Filler Neck Drain Housing Nipple (links below) are not visible is that correct because I don't see them? I just want to make sure that when you are filling the tank the gas nozzle literally is loose going through the large cap opening. A was just doing some online searching and I do think that the cap is vented. I do have the rubber that surrounds the cap so I can't see the tank.

http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...1968-1974.html
http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...1963-1996.html

69VetteFla

I think what I am going to do for the short term is go to Home Depot and pick up a pretty high powered fan and just keep my garage door open like a foot after I pull in and keep the fan going for like an hour. I am using Sunoco 93.

69VetteFla

It is not exhaust and is kind of like the smell of gas/old car I think. It is real hot down here in South Fla during July so after running the car and pulling in the garage with no ventilation any smell gets amplified. Going to take a look at some of the things that previous posters said to look at. Thanks.

milo30

Lat Summer the smell got so bad that my wife called the fire dept. to investigate. They took my gas cans and put them outside but couldn't find the problem. Later I found that the rubber hoses on top of the gas tank had deteriorated and I guess fumes were escaping from the gas tank thru there. They were in pretty bad shape after 30 plus years.

69VetteFla

Will add that to my list of things to check out - thanks

gq82

My gas cap and rubber filler neck around it....your cap would look different (might see the word Vented instead of Sealed and no red warning label) but otherwise it should look the same.

69VetteFla

I just realized that I had pics on my phone that I took a few days ago. Look especially at the pic with the gas cap removed - just a big metal hole with no rubber surrounding it or nothing to put the gas nozzle into. Is this correct?

7T1vette

That is what you should see...the rubber 'boot' below, and around, the filler neck. If you have no filler tube 'seal' and you smell raw fuel, you have leakage somewhere around the fuel tank. The possible sources were listed above. Please check them out for your (and your car's) safety.

Jerry... I see you still have your original cap, too.

69VetteFla

So the vented cap wouldn't allow me to smell gas when I lift the cover?

PeteZO6

I recently replaced the fuel tank in my '69, so perhaps my experience and what I learned can help you. The thread describing it (with pictures) is here: Link

I smelled gasoline in the car when I filled the tank over ½ full, so I thought the hoses from the tank to the hard fuel lines were rotted. Turns out when I got the tank out, the hoses were in good shape, but the tank was leaking at the seam. By replacing the tank, lines, and cap, the fuel smell is no longe a problem.

The fuel neck the cap screws onto is held the tank by about 9 little screws with o-rings under the heads, and a cork gasket between the tank and the neck. After ~40+ years all those could be needing replacement too. New o-ring screws and the cork gasket came with the tank. Dropping the tank is not really hard, just kind of a PITA; and you pretty much have to to get access to the hoses. And you get chance to see your car's build sheet - if it's still there.

These old, pre-emission cars will give off some hydrocarbon odors, but they shouldn't be excessive to the point the odors enter the house from an attached garage.

I hope this helps.....

Edit: Add sig.

DC3

If you are getting garage fumes into the house, that is a major health hazard. Check everything between the house and garage and seal all places where your house air conditioning system could possibly pull air from the garage (electrical and plumbing penetrations, holes in the wall, etc). If the indoor air conditioning unit is in a garage closet, check it to make sure it is not pulling air from the garage directly into the unit or duct work. Seal it as needed with aluminum foil tape (not duct tape, that stuff doesn't actually work on ducts).

After you make sure fumes cannot enter the house, then tackle the smells the car is producing.

I had a garage smell issue with my '73 after I bought it. I helped the problem a lot with a good engine tune and carb adjustment. I also helped it by replacing a leaking check valve on the vapor canister line at the gas tank. But, it turned out another culprit was that the previous owner had removed the vapor canister. After installing a new one the smell was largely eliminated.

DC

69VetteFla

Thanks. One of our AC handlers is in a closet in the garage and I suspect the smell is coming through there. I looked at it and it the duct seems to be secured but will definitely have someone take a look - thanks.

69VetteFla

Thanks. Read your previous detailed post and appreciate it. Going to have to do some investigating like you did - only difference is you know what you are doing and I don't