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literally. After I got my old Gal back on the road a few years back, I noticed a fuel smell when the the tank was full. After I got down to 3/4 of a tank the smell would go away. I knew the tank wasn't leaking so I tried replacing the clamps and the rubber connector for the vent tube but nothing I did fixed the problem. I had other bugs that needed to be chased down so I put a bandaid on it by only fueling up to 3/4 of a full tank every time I put gas in the car. This worked well enough for me to drive the car and sort out the other issues.
One such issue was a problem of vapor lock. I tried everything, added a carb spacer, re routed fuel lines, replaced the fuel pump, replaced rubber connecting hoses but nothing would fix the issue. Finally I got some advice to add a fuel regulator with return line. The concept being that if you have a return line, fuel is always flowing through the system keeping it cool. At the same time I added a glass filter to the line near the carb so I could see what was going on. The return line was mounted to the inside of the frame and ran back to the vent tube port on the fuel tank. I knew I still needed a vent so I simply put a T at the port thinking air could still get into the system and that fuel would take the path of last resistance and flow 1 inch back into the tank rather than 2 feet up through the vent tube. Boy was I wrong. When I got on it hard I would smell gas. At that point I figured that vent tube was not only the cause of the new gas smell but also the cause of full tank gas smell.
The fix was simple, I purchased a vented gas cap, removed the T at the tank and routed the return line directly into the vent tube port on the tank. What do you know, a properly vented tank and no gas smell.
As to the vapor lock issue, the regulator didn't fix it. The glass filter allowed me to see that hardly any gas was getting to the carb even when things weren't hot yet, soooo I looked deeper and found a clog in the fuel line. Long story short now the system works well. no smell, cool fuel, and a happy engine.
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I had an issue with fuel clogging the filter.I dropped the tank and found particles floating in the tank.It turned out to be tank sealer from the previous owner.I bought a new tank.No more troubles.
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I have a replacement tank weighting to go in as soon as I use most of the gas that is in the current tank. My replacement is out of a 61 and is immaculate. Had it steam cleaned just to be on the safe side then repainted the outside. It should be good to go.
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I get the part about needing a vent. As the gas level in the tank goes down, you need air to enter the tank to prevent a vacuum. What I'm trying to figure out is how you were able to find a vented cap? The old caps like mine are a half turn to tighten cap. The only vented kind I was able to find are threaded caps that will slip when they bottom out.
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All new caps made for any application are vented. Its easier for the manufacturers to make them all vented as an extra vent is not a problem. The problem I had was getting one that fit. The cap at the auto parts store listed for a 62 Galaxie was the correct design and shape however the tabs that hold the cap to the tank were to close to the underside of the cap and I could not get it to turn. The fix was to look at other similar caps until I found one that fit. Below is a picture of the part #s
the 6040 is the one that the computer said should fit a 62 galaxie and didn't and the 6749 was the one that actually fit
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Thanks for the help!
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Hey Daze, I have been to 5 different auto parts stores trying to find that vented gas cap. No luck! Is there another part number? Can you let me know who sells them? I have done a ton of searching on line as well, still nothing.
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Here is a link to the local store where I got it
If you go down to the bottom of the screen and click on "compatibility " it will list all the vehicles by make modle and year that use this cap and you can use that info at the parts house.
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Thanks, that's a big help!
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