I recently purchased a 74 basket case. At some point in its life there was a weber carb conversion. The charcoal canister is in a box of parts and the two hoses going to the engine compartment have been removed. The expansion tank is mounted in its factory position. The line exiting the expansion tank to the charcoal canister is just dangling. Getting some minor fuel odor. My question is can the evaporator be removed and the input line from the fuel filler tube be plugged?

i believe the line exiting the expansion tank to the charcoal canister is the tank venting line. if you plug it the tank will get a vacuum problem as the fuel is used.

i may be wrong. others will correct this if i am.

do you know what month 74 it is?
the canister was changed from the front trunk to the engine bay in late november 73. (it may never have had the big hoses running to the front trunk).

this may help.
from parts catalogue.

shows set up for euro versus usa models for tank vent.
pretty sure how it all works.

you could rig up the euro system and run that tank fume line into the filler overflow line that outlets under the car. i guess the idea with euro cars was the fumes were not directly accumulating in the front trunk. will still accumulate in your garage?

don't think euro cars before 74 even had the expansion tank on top of fuel tank.
i remember a 73 euro 2.0 here in aus. its been 20 years since i saw it.
memory says it had no expansion tank on top of fuel tank. i think they had a vented gas cap. could be wrong. if they did maybe you could also get yourself a vented gas cap for a euro car - that might work if you plug the vent hose?

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Thanks for the response. I don't know the date of manufacture. But you may be correct as to the charcoal canister being mounted in the engine bay as I couldn't find any holes in the front trunk where they would be running to the rear.

Thanks for your response. I like the idea of tapping into the filler overflow. or just running the line in parallel to the filler overflow out the same hole to get it under the car. Great suggestion.

Don't ...

Hands down the most worsest "upgrade" i ever made to my 914.
I removed the evap system, tossed the charcoal canister and routed the small vent hose inside the larger overflow tube.

Now, with 3/4+ tank of gas, every time i hit a hard left hand sweeper, i get nauseating fuel smell inside the cabin.

Thanks. Appreciate the tip.

@SirAndy

wonder what they did with euro cars to stop that.
or did they just put up with it stinking the car every time you did a hard long sweeper.

?

when you look at the parts diagram for euro cars pre 74, they have no expansion tank, and a vented gas cap. no need for routing lines into the over flow.
except i would have thought a vented gas cap, directly into front trunk would mean euro cars must have suffered from fumes in the front trunk via the cap?

My BB is from March of 74 and it's canister was mounted in the engine bay. At some point the canister was tossed, probably when the AC was installed when it was delivered. I've found a canister and bracket and plan to reinstall it at some point. The vent line is mostly intact. As I was getting ready to clean the tank yesterday I found that when they disconnected the vent line they pinched it shut with pliers just outside the filler tube. I plan to drill it out. I've only had about 350 miles of seat time in it and did not notice any starvation issues.

The mounting point is on the passenger side against the front of the trunk by the torsion bars if it was rear mounted.

Thanks for the tip. Much appreciated.

interesting the vent line was pinched shut.

i'm remembering my old friends euro spec cars better this morning.

his first car was a willow (apple) green 914/4 that came in from germany in the early 70s.
i have no memory of the fuel tank in that one.

the second car he had was a 73 2.0 euro spec converted to rhd by crayfords in england.
it had the expansion tank on top of the fuel tank but no charcoal cannister and plumbing.
i found a photo of it in my files with the front trunk open. the expansion tank was there.

the third car he had was a 70 914/6. that was the car i have remembered had no expansion tank on top of the fuel tank. a euro spec 6 - originally the australian distributor's demonstration car.

the 73 would have vented through the expansion tank to the overflow.
as @SirAndy remarks must have occasionally smelled of fuel.
though i never remember any complaints. but...if i think about we were all a lot more tolerant of fuel smells back in the 80s.

how the 70 6 vented i have no idea. it could only have done it through the fuel cap?
or maybe there was a little vent valve below the fuel cap where a USA spec car normally plugs in the vent hose that goes to the expansion tank.

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i wonder how your fuel tank is breathing?

do you think maybe the fuel cap has been altered or replaced with a breather cap?

maybe having carbs helps?

the EFI cars are definitely relieving pressure and vacuum via the vapor line to the charcoal can which is connected to the atmosphere at the fan housing and the air cleaner.
(with the charcoal in between both atmo vents - the charcoal is the "valve" more or less).

Just to clarify, i removed *all* evap components on my car, including the expansion tank.

I'm pretty sure with that still in place you'll get less fuel smell.

probably would.

but see above, i have remembered my old friend's 6 did not have the expansion tank either. i could probably get a look at that car again soon now that all the covid bs is over in aus. it belongs the couple who run the karmann and 356 club. they have been gently harrassing me to join them on a run. all a bit tea and scones for me, but i will get to see them this year some time and maybe try take a look at that 6 again.

I put all of the charcoal canister components back on my six conversion, and it is hooked to the factory 964 canister purge valve. Before doing this, I got a regular gas smell in the car. Now I get nothing.

On the factory six, it was a California emissions car, with the charcoal canister and lines, as it was sold by a dealer in SoCal. But somewhere along the line, it was removed, Probably by the guy in Iowa. I have all the components to put it back on, so I will be hooking it back up. Right now the canister is on the tank, and the lines go under the left fender so the gas smell doesn't get in the car.