Projects Exhaust Smell Inside Car - Seal Firewall?

Thanks,
I'll take some pictures tonight and hopefully some people can see if anything is obviously wrong. I'm still curious if leaving the ignition on for a while to let the compressor run and smelling fuel is normal.

 

Thanks Bruce.

 

Fuel lines!! There is another thread on updated lines that sounds pretty tasty.
I change hose every six months, easy, worth it, one more thing.
You'll run into alot of "One more things" Every time though, thats one more thing you really dont have to worry about.
I'm a VW guy in another life, and after burning one in my misspent youth, I learned about fuel hose.

 

Hi, do any of these pictures give any clues or show anything obvious that I should check for or perhaps something not done right with this car? The exhaust pipes look like heck as far as being scraped but I didn't see any holes. I am planning to have some shop redo with 2" pipe. I think the smell is more like gasoline than exhaust but I'm not 100 percent sure. I know my shirts smell kind of like gasoline after riding in the car.

 

looks like there is a gap on the passenger side fresh air tube. and the driver side is missing completely.
i wonder if when the pipes hit they knocked the pipe at the manifold out of alignment so the donut is leaking.

 

Small hole can be covered easily with that metal tin knockers tape. It sticks well and if far less permanent than caulking, pop rivets and screws are likely to become. It will keep the fumes out and when you are ready to buy a welder you can do the job right. Don't forget to put good grommets around the cables and wires.

 

Looks like its time to change fuel filter also, Not part of your problem.

 

That gas hose looks funky where it is rubbing the shock.. I'd give that a high priority as well. I would move the filter down to your splice on the frame rail and put in a hardline where it was.

For the gas fumes, your intake manifold looks like it may have been collecting some gas, see if the carb is leaking or the top is loose.

 

After I painted my 54 Chevy years ago, I drove it for several months without the trunk seal in place and on every outing had serious exhaust smell in the car, even though the exhaust system was brand new, leak free and ran to the back bumper.
Installed the trunk seal and had no more issues with exhaust fumes inside the cab.

 

Interesting. There is no trunk seal at all that I know of. Basically I bought this car as a project car that seemed to be mostly done and I thought I would just need to do little odds and ends here.

 

Get the original vent tubes replaced, or else block off those vent ports at the firewall. Those are probably catching 99% of the problem vapors and pumping them directly onto you inside the cabin.

Then, plug every little hole you can find on the firewall with rubber plugs. The hardware store should have a variety pack of sizes.

As said before, the trunk seal will probably make a huge difference on vapors getting sucked in from the exhaust outlet, but also check all the other seals on the doors and windows. Every one of them will allow some air in, and it might be stinky air (according to the girlfriend).

 

Gas tanks vent, yours will vent into the trunk/interior of the car.

 

good call, i missed that in the photo. that is the gas smell for sure.

 

Thanks, so many little things to do on this car but I guess its a great learning experience.

How should I implement vents for the gas tank? Any advice for someone without a welder?

 

relocate the filler neck to the outside of the car. For a vent, A 59 ford I had had a simple 5/16 line that ran from the tank, up to the top of the quarter panel, and then ran down, and exited through the bottom of the quarter panel, through a rubber grommet.

 

I see. For the filler neck, that seems like major work or body work outside my abilities. I think the vent seems doable by myself.

 

As stated above, I am curious if it is exhaust or engine blow by gasses? How is your engine vented? I have a similar issue with my wife's wagon. Brand new engine with one v/c breather and a pcv valve plumbed into the base of an Edelbrock carb.

 

I'm not sure. Is it hard to tell from the pictures, or should I take pictures of another part of the engine in particular?

 

I'd try and figure out a way to T or Y into the rubber hose between the tank and the gas cap and run a line for a vent and then get a non-vented gas cap.

As other have said, replace all the fuel line, its cheap and a good safety item. You should not smell fuel when your have the ignition on. Does it have a mechanical or electrical fuel pump? Sounds like an electric fuel pump is pushing fuel somewhere. Hole in the fuel line or overflowing the float bowls of the carb would be my guess. If its a mechanical, all I can guess is the compressors are pushing the vapor around?

 

That's a recipe for problems.
You obviously have an air leak-
Leaving the key on running the compressor for 5-10 mins can run your battery down.
Leaving the key on can easily burn your ignition
The compressor shouldn't be wired that way off the ignition switch.

If you smell fuel, you have a fuel leak = not good
Dragging exhaust = sparks
Sparks + fuel leak = big trouble
Get that cockeyed twisted hose off the shock
Get a vent into the tank, that looks like a vented cap that vents into the trunk and onto your honeys clothes

All Holes and air leaks below the windows need to be sealed up.

 

Thanks, it's an electric fuel pump. I can hear it when I turn the ignition on.

 

Thanks. The compressor needs to run usually if I haven't driven it for an entire week. There must be a leak as you mentioned. If I drove it the same day, the compressor doesn't need to turn back on.

I'm starting to realize this car needs so much more attention than I thought but I guess most of the projects seem doable.

 

Flame spread putty. Use it generously around the penetrations for wires and cables into the cab.
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsId=SSSSSufSevTsZxtUMxtUnx_xevUqevTSevTSevTSeSSSSSS--

 

Oh thanks!

 

I just talked to my girlfriend and asked her what she remembers.
Basically when I turn the ignition on to run the compressor the entire garage smells like fuel. There is a leak and if it sits for a week I need to run the compressor first before starting the car otherwise I blow the fuse (I know I need to rewire it, not sure why the previous owner wired it this way).

She thinks the smell inside the car is more fuel than it is exhaust but isn't entirely sure. I imagine if it smells like fuel before I even start it up that is the clue?

 

Now that you added pictures, your engine does not look like it was rebuilt lately! All your fuel lines need work and your electric pump is probably putting out to much pressure and needs a regulator. Check the fuel pressure! Gary

 

Supposedly it was rebuilt in 2009. I don't know how to verify this. I've seen oil leaks underneath so I question it too. What a learning experience. The car is really beautiful but I didn't think it would need so much work.

 

I don't think that solving one problem and running into another is a beginner thing. I think it is a car thing. I've been at this for over 50 years and last weekend was three days of deal with one thing and then deal with the next including having a leaking oil pan off three times in one day.

Fix one problem at a time until you run out of problems. Gas leaks first if you have gas leaks because the muffler shops won't work on the car if it has gas leaks. Make sure the crankcase vent system is working right and make sure you don't have any oil leaks that may be causing problems. Sometimes a poorly vented crankcase can cause oil leaks because the pressure inside pushes oil out through the gaskets weak spots.

Read Boones post in post #16 and check your car for leaks in that area. A leak on the right side would siphon fumes out of the engine compartment right out on your girlfriends feet.

 

Thanks for the advice. I already know I have a big fuel smell when i have the ignition on for 5-10 minutes. So the correct step is to add a non vented gas cap and T in some type of vent with a grommet somewhere?

I'm a bit discouraged, mostly because I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing and have limited knowledge on engines. I thought I bought a car that would need simple fixes here and there. Guess I didn't take enough into consideration when I was told it didn't need much at all by the previous owner.

 

I hope after you started this thread that you have stopped driving this car. That rubber fuel hose hanging buy the exhaust manifold gives me a cold chill.
An exhaust shop will generally not work on a car with a fuel leak.

I think I would start buy rebuilding the entire fuel system then you can work on patching holes and installing seals then go to the muffler shop. JMO