Gas smell from '71

[Bwmurph]

I recently had my '71 rear-ended, so of course it ended up in the body shop. It wasn't a lot of damage (although it cost almost as much as I paid for the car 5 years ago) and they did a nice job, including replacing he gas tank. I've only driven it a few times since the repair, but once it's parked back in the garage the smell of gas is almost overpowering. I would be afraid to have any kind of spark if the garage door was closed so I have to leave the garage door open for at least 30 -45 minutes for it to dissipate. This car has always had a smell of gas once shut off, and, in my mind its always been a little worse than my '59. But now it seems to be even worse, and I could be mistaken, but I think its coming from the back of the car. I see no evidence of leaking, but I haven't really crawled around under the car either. I can't imagine this is "normal", but does anyone have any ideas of where I should look first.

Any help is appreciated,
Bernie O

 

[Tom Bryant]

I would check the hoses for the EEC system. They may not have put them on or maybe not correctly. It sounds like the tank is venting to atmosphere instead of going up front to the EEC canister.

Tom

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

I had this precise problem and as Tom says the EEC system is the most likely suspect.

Turned out on mine it was the fuel vapour separator attached to the upper left side of the gas tank.



The smaller spigot is quite fragile.

Here's a good article reviewing the entire system

Is Your Corvette Gassy? | CC Tech

 

[dougelam]

I had this precise problem and as Tom says the EEC system is the most likely suspect.

Turned out on mine it was the fuel vapour separator attached to the upper left side of the gas tank.

View attachment 24074

The smaller spigot is quite fragile.

Here's a good article reviewing the entire system

Is Your Corvette Gassy? | CC Tech

Wouldn't a coffee can work better and cheaper?
One could direct a tube from the HVAC to pressurize it and force vapors into a special ram air system so the air filter can be cleaned with gas without removing it!

Think of the time it would save!
A bit safer and your hands would stay clean as well
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Too soon?

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

 

[GTR1999]

I agree to check that plastic check valve and also to make sure the correct year gas tank was installed. This system started in 1970 I believe, I know my 72 has it and mine is bad. The early tanks were vented through gas cap I believe and these were not, instead forcing the vapors to the coffee can mounted on the inner LH fender and plumbed to the carb. With mine I never had a gas vapor smell but last summer I had an issue with gas leaking from the coffee can. At the time I didn't realize I created the problem because I always have topped off the tank when filling. Well I topped it off and saw it weep down so like a dope I topped it off again, and again. Well the check valve ball must be screwed up because it is supposed to stop gas from going down the line to the coffee can but it didn't. I usually would get in and drive for an hour so the gas would be used up but this time I stopped about 3 miles away and when I went out later saw the gas dripping out under the front fender, that's when I realized what I did. I don't feel like dropping the tank again so now I just fill to the bottom of the fill tube in the tank and stop and all is good. I have seen these break apart with no pressure at all so it's possible that is what happened with yours maybe long ago- but if someone replaced the tank they should have seen that?

Good luck, these cars did not smell of gas when new and when maintenance was done on them so you should be able to figure it out, hopefully they installed the correct tank.

 

[Bwmurph]

'71 gas smell

Thanks for all your replies guys; much appreciated. I'm just going to take it back to the shop that did the work -- I just talked to them and seem more than willing to help me out.

And I learned something about the EEC system !

Thanks,

Bernie O

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Too soon?

Nope
Our buddy has found a new/old home, hope he's happy.

 

[SR'71]

I recently had my '71 rear-ended, so of course it ended up in the body shop. It wasn't a lot of damage (although it cost almost as much as I paid for the car 5 years ago) and they did a nice job, including replacing he gas tank. I've only driven it a few times since the repair, but once it's parked back in the garage the smell of gas is almost overpowering. I would be afraid to have any kind of spark if the garage door was closed so I have to leave the garage door open for at least 30 -45 minutes for it to dissipate. This car has always had a smell of gas once shut off, and, in my mind its always been a little worse than my '59. But now it seems to be even worse, and I could be mistaken, but I think its coming from the back of the car. I see no evidence of leaking, but I haven't really crawled around under the car either. I can't imagine this is "normal", but does anyone have any ideas of where I should look first.

Any help is appreciated,
Bernie O

The gas small is bad when the tank is full ? Gets better as the tank empties ? I was missing the lower part of the seperator and it reeked of gas until the tank got below 3/4 full ..............