Hi all. Still trying to sort out my gas smell even with the top down.

I took the air cleaner vent off and the cap isn’t on perfect. There are gaps. Is that normal?

The filter also looks a bit squished. Just wondering if it would play a role in causing the has smell. I’ve checked the all the vent hoses and they all seem good. No leaks. Either it’s my fuel pump (heard that could be a cause) but wanted to check here first and see if it could be air cleaner. Here are some pics:

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Check the lines under the fuel tank, mine did the same thing

Check under fuel injectors. One drop brings on the smell. We're seeing lots of leaking fuel injectors.

I had to replace my fuel pump. All new hoses & clamps didn't fix the leak.

Unless you have the heat on, I would think that gas fumes in the cabin would be coming from the fuel tank area or the fuel lines in the tunnel. Could be a simple as a loose clamp.

Your fuel tank is likely to be weeping fuel from rusted areas under the factory felt pads used to cushion it from the body. Mine was. The felt pads hold moisture and cause the tank to rust little pin holes from the outside into the tank in the felt pad areas. Mine would only smell really bad when the tank was more than half full. Otherwise it would barely be noticeable. You air filter and the hoses running to it are unlikely to be the cause of the gas smell you are noticing. If you have a strong gas smell in the engine compartment, you have either a leaking fuel hose, fuel injector body, or fuel pump.

You need to figure out what end of the car the smell is originating from. Should be pretty easy to do given that you can smell gas while in the cabin with the top off. I agree with Spoke and 914sgofast2 in thinking it's coming from somewhere around the tank or from the itself. Stick your nose next to the tank on both the passenger and driver's side and see if you can smell gas coming up from below. If you smell gas, I'd recommend draining and pulling the tank, checking for rust holes and then replace all of the lines. It's a PITA job, but not hard to do. To drain the tank, you can jump the connectors on the relay board so that the pump continues to run with engine off, and just pump it out to the tank of another car. Just make sure to shut the pump off as soon as the tank is empty so you don't burn the pump out.

If you haven't changed your fuel lines for a few years, you should. make sure you do all of them- the ones in the engine compartment and the ones under the tank.

Thanks all for the input. I am pretty certain it is not coming from the front of the car. The gas smell is strong when I'm sitting in the car with the top off and it seems to be coming from the engine compartment. I removed the air cleaner, cleaned it out and re-mounted it (it was loose before) - reconnected the hoses and so far the small seems to have dissipated however I only took the vehicle for a short drive. I am going to go on a longer drive tomorrow and see if it comes back. I am going to put my focus on the fuel pump (the car isn't FI rather carbed from what I know). If it's not the fuel pump then I'll focus on the gas tank. Is it a significant issue to remove the gas tank to take a look and see if there are any leaks there?

Even with that aircleaner, if it's carb'd, you'll always smell some fuel.

Had a smell from my wife's Bug 1977 fuel injected. Replaced lots of hoses, fuel and vent, gas cap, filler neck hose. Was driving me crazy I couldn't find it. Was fairly strong one morning and just about ready to toss my arms up until I finally noted a tiny spot on the garage floor under the fuel pump. Frustrated because I checked all that (I thought anyway). Turned out the fuel filter was leaking the tiniest amount for months around the two halves. It finally let ago enough to make a drip.

Point of the story is sort of what others have already said, the smallest leak can be hard to see, but smell like the dickens!

It's not hard to remove the tank, just awkward. I did it solo, but having a second person to help would've made it a lot easier. Disconnecting and reconnecting the lines and making sure there are no kinks when putting it back in is the hardest part.

It's really just a matter of draining the tank and removing the strap that goes across the top. Then it just lifts out. I'm sure the job is easier if you remove the hood, but it's not necessary.

carb or FI? Figure it out. Post a picture or 2. With carb, my thought is the vapor control system is a mess or non-existent.

post pics with everything installed and hooked up. I'm skeptical that air cleaner is working with a carbed set up. Need to know for sure what you have and that hoses are connected properly first.