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By Florida_Phil - 7 Years Ago
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After a lengthy drive, when I park my '55 TBIrd in my garage it always smells like gas. This worries my wife because she thinks it will explode. I've checked the car front to back numerous times and it's not leaking anywhere. The engine is a rebuilt stock '55 292 with all '57 top end and distributor. The carb is a new Holley 1848-1 465 cfm on a '57 iron intake. The idle screws are set 1 1/2 turns out. The air cleaner is an after market item. I thought the engine may be running rich so I adjusted the idle screws in and it didn't idle well, so I put them back to 1 1/2 turns and it runs great. Is this normal for a Y Block?
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By Tedster - 7 Years Ago
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Are we talking about raw fuel odors? That is dangerous, and you'd need to look for a leak.
A misadjusted carburetor can cause acrid exhaust fumes, not pleasant but isn't going to go boom. Make sure timing is straight w/ good hot ignition and float height is correct. Idle mixture is important, it doesn't take much of an adjustment to make big changes in the air fuel ratio. Lean both mixture screws (turn clockwise) equally a little bit at a time say a quarter or eighth of a turn until the engine RPM just starts to fall off. Right in there is where you want, maybe slightly richer from there.
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By Florida_Phil - 7 Years Ago
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I'm not sure about the smell. It definitely smells like it's running rich. I'll try turning in the idle screws a little at a time and see if it helps. There is no raw fuel on the intake or carb and none on the floor. I am running a dual vacuum fuel pump with one vacuum line open and one capped. I don't see any fuel leaking from the fuel pump or lines. If the timing is retarded, could this cause the odor? I'm not sure my timing mark is right, so I timed my engine with a vacuum gauge.
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By dbird - 7 Years Ago
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I had a similar issue with smelling gas after parking, turned out to be the hose from the fuel line to the pump had rotted, possibly from ethanol laced gas as the hose was fairly new at about two years. The replacement hose only lasted about a year. I replaced it with one from Prestige that looks to be a better quality and has been going strong for a year and a half. Interesting though, the hose only leaked when the engine was running and there was suction from the pump.
Don
55 'Bird, 56 F100
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By DryLakesRacer - 7 Years Ago
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I had smell from the sending unit on the top of the fuel tank and it was tough to find. Was worse when the tank was just filled. Lucky there is a cover in the trunk and I replace he gasket. I too worry about hoses and I only have the one from the line to the pump. I use Sta-Bil with fill up and have yet to have a problem in 5 years.
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By FORD DEARBORN - 7 Years Ago
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Greetings to all: Florida Phil - you mentioned all is dry and an aftermarket air filter has been installed. My thoughts are: After a hot shutdown, the carb takes on a lot of heat, along with the residual raw fuel vapors in the intake manifold, rising up through the open air filter element. Sniffing along the edges of the hood a few minutes after a hot shutdown may reveal this. Hope this helps, JEFF....
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By paul2748 - 7 Years Ago
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As was mentioned, look at the sending unit at the tank. The gasket may be going bad and letting some gas leak around it but not enough to cause spillage on the ground
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By miker - 7 Years Ago
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I’m as afraid of leaking gasoline as anybody. I grew up on gasoline powered boats, and someone (usually Dad) went aboard alone and lifted the hatches, then started the blowers. So fuel leaks are serious. But don’t forget our new cars have a dry manifold (EFI), and sealed gas tank vents with canisters, etc. On our old cars a little fuel smell from the tank vent or thru the carb and air filter will always be there when you shut it down on a hot day. My bird always boiled the Edelbrock carb when shut down and was hard to start. After a couple car shows I realized if I put the hood up and let the heat go, problem solved. Be cautious, but times have changed. You might just have the “old” normal.
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By junkyardjeff - 7 Years Ago
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I get a little gas smell from my 55 after shutting it off and I think its just coming out of the vents in the carb.
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By Florida_Phil - 7 Years Ago
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Thanks for the tips. All the fuel connections in the engine bay are new. I'll take a look at the gas tank connection in the back as well as the tank gasket. If I don't find anything, I'll cover the engine when I park it and see if the smell gets any better. The car runs great with no issues. I'm sure the tune is close as it fires up on the first turn every time and pulls strong to 5,000 rpm through the gears
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By John Didde - 7 Years Ago
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I put electric fuel pump and unhooked the mechanical I turn off the electric pump before I enter the garage lets the fuel level drop solved the problem
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By adg57 - 7 Years Ago
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My 56 Tbird 312 has some raw gas smell in the garage after a drive. Was thinking ti is normal for a car this age (from dim memory).
More worrisome to me is a raw gas smell when turning around corners to the right - pretty distinct with the hard top in place. Don't get it when turning left or tooling down the road. Car runs geeat and has plenty of quirks, but haven't been able to figure this one out.
Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks.
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By DryLakesRacer - 7 Years Ago
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All my carbs now have insulator plates under them no matter if small or normal base on 4 barrel. My old GM's passages would coke up and keeping them open helped. Since the older Fords I had were not built the same I just made sure any passage of any kind was cleaned out.
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By Florida_Phil - 7 Years Ago
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Someone had installed a small inline electric fuel pump on my car before I bought it. It wasn't hooked up, so I removed it. After 62 years, who knows what has been done to these cars? I think the smell is a combination of exhaust from the tailpipes and gas fumes from the carb. My car has a road draft tube and breathers, so there's probably some crank case fumes thrown in for good measure. There is a new repro '57 carb spacer on this car. The small dry air filter and open hood scoop aren't helping things either. I can't find any leaks or problems, so we have decided to let the car air out a little before bringing it into the garage. The smell goes away when you do this. Our car runs great and we are very happy with it. I keep threatening to change the cam, but I'm not looking forward to pulling the engine in this car. Sure wish it didn't have those weird Y Block lifters. I can only image what a job it would be to change the cam and lifters in an early TBird... Definitely not something you want to attempt on the night before you have to drive it to work. (remember those days?) :>
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By cokefirst - 7 Years Ago
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The problem may be heat transfer from the intake manifold to the carburetor once you shut off the car. The parts book shows that the carburetor should use two gaskets and a spacer between the gaskets. This spacer insulates the carburetor from the heat of the manifold. The spacer is part number B7AZ 9A589-A, this spacer is sandwiched between two carburetor base gaskets. C & G Ford Parts in Escondido has them, but they are pricey. This may solve your problem. You may want to try a cheaper method of just stacking about 1/4" of gaskets to accomplish a similar result.
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By PF Arcand - 7 Years Ago
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Don't know if the follwing has relevence with an early Bird, but will post it just in case.. My 1957 Ford would have a gas smell in the garage, after shutdown. First time it was the 2 Bbl Holley carb, flooding. Info from this site indicated the meetering block behind the float bowl had plugged orfices & when they were carefully cleaned, the problem there was gone.. However, the smell showed up again some in hot weather. The cars have a tank vent pipe that goes up inside the drivers side quarter panel & curves down to vent along side the gas filler. So, the original gas caps were not vented.. Someone had replaced the cap with a locking "vented" cap which in hot weather was venting into the garage. I replaced the cap with a non venting cap, problem gone!.
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By Florida_Phil - 7 Years Ago
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Interesting. I believe my car has a non venting cap. I'll check it out.
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By wlj1943 - 7 Years Ago
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Phil, I store my Bird in winter, draining all the pump gas first (Outside for sure) and then put in 5 gallons of Av-gas (100 Oct Low lead). It never goes bad. You can also useRace Fuel, but av gas for me is cheaper at my local Airport and will last virtually forever by design. Learned this trick from Phil Hill 55 years ago. It runs better on av-gas too, and is about the same price as boat gas (alcohol free) here in Oregon.
WJ
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By Florida_Phil - 7 Years Ago
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Thanks for the reply. I am familiar with av-gas. I ran it in my race cars back in my drag racing days. 1955 Y Blocks are a pretty smelly bunch. No PCV system, draft tubes, open element air cleaners, rich carbs, blow-by, dripping oil and the rest. I have determined the smell coming from my car is not actually raw gas, it's a combination of all-of-the-above. Here in Florida we drive our cars year round. I don't drive in the summer because it rains every day and it's hot-hot-hot. Since I have been letting my T-Bird air out a little before I park it in my garage, the complaints from my wife have lessened. 
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