1971, Yes I do and I am going to change all the non steel hoses. Hoping that when I take the tank out the build information sheet may be still there.

 

Glad it was helpful. Can't be too careful!

 

Here is a leak on the return line. You can see the smoke from the gas hitting the hot muffler.



Pinhole in the return line under the clamp to the frame

 

Noonie, mine was bad, but your pics look like a fire extinguisher advertisement.

 

Went through the same issue with our '78 pace car last year. Never could find any gas 'leak', but sure did have the smell. After getting some great comments from fellow forum folks, went through the following:
. changed the evap cannister
. changed all rubber hoses running to/from evap (cracked)
. changed gas cap to proper GM style
. Changed 's' hoses running to/from fuel pump (cracked)

I think the evap hoses probably were the biggest contributors. There are 5 hoses and they were all cracked. I suspect they were original from '78.

No more gas smell.

Take care
Gary C
Franklin, IN

 

Changing mine,as well (78)...was down in Palm Springs couple years ago with air temp 112 F,surface temps 150 f...stopped for gas,and fuel leaked from canister...(vapors had expanded in gas tank from extreme heat)...scared the crap out of me till I figured out what happened...I vented vapor from tank,and all was ok after that...

 

Same thing happened to me...turned out to be a bad gas tank vapor separator.

 

I'm changing that,as well...must smog 78 next month...

 

Several years ago I was replacing the sending unit on my 69 Mustang convertible at my shop. I had removed the gas tank earlier and had emptied it by siphoning out all of the gasoline. That had worked great, so when I needed to replace the sender I did the same thing. I didn't want to remove the drain plug in the tank because every one I've seen removed leaks forever after. Anyway, I siphon out "all" the gasoline and I'm laying under the car with a drop light. I smack the retainer flange with a hammer and suddenly I'm swimming in gasoline. There was still a couple of gallons in the tank. Now I'm laying in this huge puddle of gas, with my clothes soaked, and I look up at the drop light, which is laying in the puddle too, and fumes are rising off of the metal shield around the bulb. I try to reach for the light to shut it off and I can't reach it. Fortunately, my wife had just walked into the shop from the office and I yelled for her to drag the light out from under the car. Meantime, my landlord was in the next unit cleaning it up for rental and smelled the gasoline. The lease prohibited working on cars in the shop, but he had always looked the other way since I was just working on my own cars and not doing it commercially. He came over and raised hell about nearly burning down his building.:o Anyway, I lived and we didn't get evicted. The landlord even relented and said I could continue to work on my hobby cars there as long as I didn't try to burn the place down again. Man, did I ever feel stupid.

 

I learned from a fireman that you should always neutralize gas either spilled or in a can you are disposing. This is actually done very simple with soapy water. Supposedly the soap neutralizes the gas and should always be done to minimize fire danger.

 

I smelled gas, couldn't see the leak because it was dripping very slowly onto the muffler. Found the pinhole, replaced the tank.

 

you can spray your tank with rubberized undercoating and if gas ever leaks it will turn from black to a light brown. Found a rusted spot in my camaro that way. When I put my new tank in my 78 last weekend I used the wrong size hose on the return line. I had big brown streak running down my tank from the top. I thought the new tank had leaked at first and was really pissed, then when I dropped it again I found my Bubba mistake and replaced the line. I hate doing things twice to get it right!

 

When I bought my 73 the gas tank had already been replaced. After filling the tank a few times I started having fuel leak from the Tank onto the muffler. After a hard look I dropped the tank and found this.
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Bubba sealed it up with black silicone, hooping it would hold.