I have a 1978 corvette coupe and there is a distinct smell of gas from the rear of the car. I was told that vettes have an overflow tube off the tank? I pulled down the entire spare tire assembly and the tank itself look good, not sure if there is a crack in one of the lines I can,t see??

There is no overflow tube per say. The tank is sealed. It does have a vent tube that ties into the charcoal cannister.

Ken Styer

On my '76 there is an overflow drain in the rubber piece that surrounds the filler neck. It has a rubber hose that runs down the front of the tank. If you over fill or splash gas around the neck, it drains it to the ground. If your cap was bad, splashing might cause some gas here. But if your cap were bad, I would expect other problems.

I thought my tank was bad, because the smell of gas was really bad especially after driving, but when I dropped the tank, the tank looked new, it turns out that the rubber lines on top of the tank were leaking. I cut them back a little, re-attached them, and no more gas fumes.

|UPDATED|4/4/2004 2:23:11 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Don't worry your not alone. I walked into the garage last week and noticed a strong smell of gas. I checked out the rear and the front of my '76 and noticed the front rubber tube from the metal gas line to the fuel pump ("S" shaped) had a small crack near one of the clamps. I fixed it for now but I'll be replacing it very soon.
Is it wet (or any sign of sweat from gas) on the bottom rear of your car. Hopefully you can trace it to your problem. Good luck.