Feul leak in the trunk.

Maybe I can get some help from someone with more experience. Ever since I've had my '73 B, I've smelled gas in the trunk. I initially thought it was the tube running from the gas cap and the tank or the seals there, but I received a tip that it might be the lines running to or from the reservoir. It might even be the reservoir itself. So my question is, what the heck do I do? Bypass the reservoir or actually replace the lines. Should I go ahead and replace the whole thing? What would one of you professionals do?

Jordan

P.S. As of today, my windshield frame is being polished!

Jordan,

I had the same thing happen to me on my '71B. I had steel braided lines running to the canister on the right side if the trunk. From the outside they looked good, however the inner rubber was cracked and fumes were coming from them. Replace those hoses and it should take care of you problem. Hope this helps....Vic

There was a thread a while back about removing the threaded connectors from the braided vent hoses and re-using them with rubber hoses and clamps. I tried it and it was not hard to do, just careful dissection. If you are smelling gas in the trunk and you have no leaks you can find, you may want to pull the gas tank and check for rust on the top of the tank. They can get pretty rusty there and develop pin holes. Bad thing is you can't see unless you pull the tank out.

I had a new tank and lines, and the same smell. Replaced the main filler tube and clamps and all is well.

Or you may have the dreaded pinholes in the top of your tank. Only way to tell is to drop the tank and examine. The other suggestions should be done first.
RS

For me it was the rubber hose that connects the hard filler tube to the tank. It looked sound enough, but over the years I guess it degraded enough that vapour was passing through. Replaced it with another used one in better shape and no longer get that burst of fumes every time I open the trunk.

I would say that it is 90% likely that one or both of the steel-braided rubber hoses that form part of the evaporative loss system have cracked and are leaking vapour. The fix is easy and cheap. Get some fuel line hose of the correct size and replace them. From memory I seem to recall that you have to reuse the connectors from the old hoses - just attach them to the new hose using hose clamps.

When I bought my '68 I kept smelling gas and searched all over for the source. Turned out to be pin holes on the top of the tank. New tank, so smell.

Mike