That "gasoline smell", is it something old cars have?

[elanmars]

Pardon my ignorance here but since I'm an expectant father, I'm curious if this is an issue with old cars in general OR if it's just when the car isn't running 100%.

the car I'm looking to get once I sell my '73, will have AC installed and hushmats placed, does that improve "the smell", the heat, road noise, etc? It's not something ****I**** have a problem with, at all, whatsoever, I'm just looking out for my future kid.

[r_biccum]

I've heard hush mat greatly reduces road noice, vibrations, and heat. There was a write up in my latest mopar mag, and I believe it dropped the noice level 20db! If you cant find a gas leak anywhere, its normal 

[y3chargerrt]

Just because a cars old doesnt mean you should smell gas. My Charger did and I replaced the tank, sending unit, fuel lines etc and no more gas smell at all.

[chargerman67]

Good info. Thats what I need to do. Ive been having the same problem.

[Charger_Fan]

Yeah, you shouldn't smell gas often, unless it's been parked in a small garage for a few days, then you could smell some faintly. Any more than that, you've probably got a small leak somewhere & should check it out. Stuff like dry fuel lines & tank seals would be suspect, as y3chargerrt stated .
Carburetors will emit gas smells when parked in a garage, just from the float bowl vents, but it shouldn't be strong.

[Sublime69]

Don't you know that the smell of gas, old vinyl and a little mildew is the smell of SPEED. 

It's a common fragrance to old Mopars. 

[Charger_Fan]

TRUE DAT!    

[lisiecki1]

my 73 used to have a slight gas smell back in the day....i really never thought too much of it.....fast forward 10 years, starting the resto-mod project and dropped the tank to find about 10 holes in the top......5 of which were rusted through, but the other 5 looked like they were drilled with a 1/8 drill bit?  go figure.

[tan top]

Don't you know that the smell of gas, old vinyl and a little mildew is the smell of SPEED. 

It's a common fragrance to old Mopars. 

thats good i like that 

[b5blue]

No! If you smell more than a "faint" whiff under the hood the car is telling you FIX ME! Replace any old rubber seals and hoses drop the tank and clean it up real good inspect it very closely, replace the sock on the sender and clean and inspect a metal lines for rust or damage. Fumes are EXPLOSIVE more so than liquid fuel. A very wise old school mechanic told me he had seen more under hood fires in these cars right around the time they reached an age (late 70's) that the original hose's were prone to fail, he found that any fuel leak around the front was prone to ignite from a spark inside the alternator, see all the nice slots around a MoPar alternator for cooling, the term is "un-shrouded". If you were to look at a marine alternator you would see that they have or should have an extra shroud made of steel with a fine mesh screen covering all openings to reduce the chance of it being an ignition source in the more enclosed engine bay of a boat. Never accept that the smell of gas is in anyway normal or safe. The tiny amount from the bowl vent on the carb./carbs is it...and it should be "faint". Steve (the mechanic) warned me about this 14 years ago, I listened and never let anything age greatly before I service it...before it fails, a real pain in the butt is the seal between the tank and the filler tube on 2nd gen. Chargers. With new fuels added alcohol I expect this problem to grow as old rubber and alcohol are a bad match, I'm already seeing new rubber parts listed as approved for modern fuels.     

[resq302]

My whole fuel system was replaced back in 2006.  I still to this day have a fuel smell after I drive the car and park it inside my garage for a couple days later.  I have no leaks aside from a little weaping on the top gasket of my carb.  Gasoline has a certain range where it is flamabe and believe it or not, the window is pretty small.  I want to say going by memory that it has to be something like 16-24% range compared to air.  Think of it this way, they add mercaptin to natural gas since natural gas is colorless and technically odorless.  You can smell the mercaptin a long time before from a minute pin hole leak and a long time after the natural gas leak has been repaired.  Also, think about bad gas how it varnishes to the fuel line parts.  Ever try and get rid of that smell when the fuel is totally gone?  I'm not saying that you don't have a leak but if you can't find anything, I would just chalk it up to it being the joy of owning an old car.

[elanmars]

Ok, so now I've gotten my '69....needs some work. It does stink of exhaust but I think it's because the pipes are straight? and then there's no trunk divider and I'm sure it doesn't help that I don't have one of the side markers installed (because the guy I bought it from hasn't sent me the rest of the stuff he said he would, yet).

the car has a new fuel tank and sending unit and all that. Maybe I'm missing some firewall stuff? I don't know. I have to see more about it once I get the car back from getting brake work done.

[b5blue]

The trunk should not smell like fuel. The divider won't seal off the trunk there are big holes above the rear wheel well that lead into the side 1/4 window area. Fumes "pool" that's the danger, I'm not trying to go "chicken little" on you screaming "the sky is falling" just remember when all things are correct the only place there are fumes is the tiny tube that runs into the rear frame on the filler tube for tank over flow/venting and bowl vent on carb. nothing else so just keep checking, fuel and brakes are the first thing to fix/check on a new project in my book, with a new tank 3/4 of the battle is done there! Good Luck!

[elanmars]

allrighty, got it all done-now it's just the exhaust smell haha it's terrible, the pipes are straight and mufflers are needed, ASAP!!!! then at least my pregnant girlfriend and I will be able to ride in it comfortably at night/when it's not too hot, AC unit will be acquired soon.

[b5blue]

  I'm sure your Lady is gonna like it!

[TylerCharger69]

Don't you know that the smell of gas, old vinyl and a little mildew is the smell of SPEED. 

It's a common fragrance to old Mopars. 

Maybe we can bottle that fragrance somehow and top the sales of AXE, Old Spice....etc.

[Foreman72]

mine has this real musty sorta smell i fear i'll never be able to get rid of completely...that's what 20 years in a barn will do to ya...

now whenever i smell something musty i look around to see if my car randomly appeared

[b5blue]

 

[1969chargerrtse]

allrighty, got it all done-now it's just the exhaust smell haha it's terrible, the pipes are straight and mufflers are needed, ASAP!!!! then at least my pregnant girlfriend and I will be able to ride in it comfortably at night/when it's not too hot, AC unit will be acquired soon.

My car is basically fully restored with a complete new exhaust system and I get the fumes in the car everytime I take it out. Unless the windows are shut. It just runs rich and the exhaust smell just wraps around the car as I'm driving.  The wifey hates it. Me? I'm going brain dead but I love to cruise in it.  

[tan top]

yep took mine completly apart , ever single nut bolt etc doing the resto   put it back with only what needed replacing in the interior ... headliner , seat covers , package tray ,  even went back with a 25 year old carpet that the second owner fitted  !! ... as it was mint    , i still have that old mopar smell ..sort of musty , would not have it any other way , as for the fuel system every thing new .. get a wiff of  100+ octain leaded  now & again ,(  yeah i mix race  , in with pump stuff    )when its been hot out side & the garage door has not been opened for a few days ,

[472 R/T SE]

I've only had one old Mope that didn't reek of fuel.  It was the only car my wife didn't mind riding in.

And now it's currently over in the land down under.

[CDN72SE]

Mine have always had that gas smell, or some other smell that I only get with old Mopars, my daughter actually says she likes the smell of the garage. Maybe after I've done the resto and changed gas tanks and fuel lines the smell will disappear. I must admit I do like the smell.

[oldcarnut]

Mine seems to get a gas smell in it occasionally and the wife can't stand it but I think it has more to do with old guys than old cars though  

[greenpigs]

My Charger has more of a sweet scent of burned gas, no raw fuel smell thankfully.

[TylerCharger69]

If you smell raw fuel......that's not right....i know from my experience with mine, the vent tube didn't have the rubber hose on the end and fumes were getting in through the trunk compartment.....Make sure the trunk floor seals are......sealed!!

[resq302]

The thing is you will always have that gasoline smell around the car.  Main reasoning is that there is a bowl vent on the carb.  When the car is shut off, the gas will evaporate through that vent in the carb getting into the air surrounding the car.

[elanmars]

where mine comes from, I've noticed, is from the engine bay itself. I shut the windows up, it's all good. I have them down and that smell is right there in your face.

[c00nhunterjoe]

as said, the carb will smell of gas, its the way they are, but it should not be overwhelming. the exhaust smell is annoying but par for the course with carbureted vehicles. the bigger the cam the more overlap, and the more overlap the more exhaust odor. initial timing adjustments will help some with the hydrocarbons but not eliminate it. 

[Charger440RDN]

Every old car I have ever owned had the infamous exhaust smell and sometimes you can smell gas. i think it's normal for an older carbureted car. My wife always would complain about the exhaust smell, so i would just take the newer car when we would go somewhere.

[resq302]

The more I drive my car, the more I am thinking it has to do with the newer formula of gas.  We were at a show and our 70 chally vert was not started for a week.  It took forever to fire up and then took it out for a drive.  The next day we had that same gas odor in the garage.  For giggles, I checked to see how much squirt I had coming from the carb and there was minimal.  Again, it seemed to take longer than normal to fire up.  The carb was recently rebuilt and this problem just started since we were out at Carlisle.  Since then, I have noticed that all of the gas stations by me have put the 10% ethanol sticker on their pumps.  Now it is possible that the carb may be leaking down internally with the engine off, however, I am leaning towards todays crappy fuels evaporating faster than they used to.  Hence, the odor coming from the cars.

[TylerCharger69]

Wow....i dont have the raw fuel smell problem......is something wrong then??

[resq302]

Tyler, could be a couple of things.... could be that you have a different carb on your car.  Could be that our chally is leaking down internally, or it could even be that you have better gas out where you live without the ethanol crap. 

[Ghoste]

Or maybe it's just out of gas? 

[1BAD68]

Mine has a faint gas smell after its been running. I get a strange exhaust smell in the cabin when I floor it. I like it though it reminds me of a lot of cars I was in as a kid back in the early 70's.
One thing I love is the smell of my garage when I park my Charger in it after a long cruise, kind of a pleasant mixture of gas, oil, exhaust, etc... Its not strong or offensive but just mildly pleasant.

[TylerCharger69]

I'm just running a basic edelbrock 1405 with an open air cleaner......

[autodynamics]

convert to fuel injection....mine fortunately has lost the old smell......one of the benefits of doing the swap...