oki ...i had the fuel tank/fuel smell issue looked at...my tank definitly looks small...mb not original...im going to investigate changing it out ofr a largewr one..as for the leaking filler tube..the mechanic explained it as this..which seems to match all the posts her about how the halls are...he said my vent down there with the tank most likely leaks when i add more gas sto the tAnk when im filling it with gas and the gas filler nozzle stops and i add more gas to it...now from the posts i read that mb its possible that vent isnt allowing alll the fuel to get into the tank so it will get completly fill...dunno...but the mechanic said my filler tube doesnt look like it is leaking ,,,it is the vent area
he also explained the filler tube looks impossible to get to.. and it is connected up top with rivets..he said it would be a major job to remove it ( extensive body work involved) ill post a picture of my tank later..im wondering anyone else had info on the process of filler tube and or gas tank replacement

That's pretty much what I assumed: a leaky vent connection on top of the tank, or maybe even a leaky sending unit gasket. Dropping the tank is the only way to reach this stuff. I doubt that it's the filler tube, since I believe that this part is rigid metal and not prone to leaking. I hope. Nick and I have big, fabricated steel plate tanks that look very heavy and would require a pair of jacks, or having the vehicle up on a lift, using a transmission jack to lower. It looks pretty intimidating as a back yard project to me and I had a "pro" look at it. He chickened out, but I'm sure it wouldn't be all that bad with the right equipment. He was going to use a smoke generator to find the leak, but didn't.

I don't have a real good picture of the tank in my '79 but this one you can see it and the straps that hold it up. It's a 36 gallon. I don't know when they switched to the plastic tank in these and I really haven't paid attention to the earlier van tanks that are steel.

As for the filler pipe. I think the steel part is pretty long. After fixing the rubber filler tube on mine, I haven't had any fuel smells. But I don't drive it all that much.

_________________
Nick Taylor - Green & White 1974 Hall GTC.
www.NicksGarage.com == www.HallGTC.com == www.NicksTeardrop.com