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. 

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

Interesting.  I believe my car has a non venting cap.  I'll check it out.

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!.    


Paul

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.  

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?)  :>

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.

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

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.

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

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