Why do my feet smell like popcorn?

'63 Ford Falcon - Is it Normal to Smell Gas From Thirty Feet Away?

• My boyfriend and I just bought a '63 Ford Falcon. When we bought the car I could smell gas a little, and he could, too, but he kept telling me it was normal for an older car with a carb. Well, eventually he did find a leak on the carb and fixed it. BUT, now the smell is even stronger. He keeps saying he can't smell it. But I trust my nose, and it's STRONG. Yesterday while watering the garden I got such a strong smell of gas it nearly knocked me over and I was about 30 feet away. As I got closer to the car, the smell got stronger. I could smell it coming from underneath the hood, even with it closed. When he came home I told him I could still smell gas but he wouldn't believe me because HE can''t smell it (or at least that is his claim). But, he humored me and we investigated further. When we opened the trunk, the smell of gas was VERY strong. He kept telling me he still couldn't smell it. I don't know HOW he could not. Anyway, a guy on a Ford Forum said there is probably a leak around the seal of the sending unit and told us what part to get. My boyfriend doesn't want to replace it. He says it's normal to smell all that gas (um, that he can't smell). I am now afraid to drive the car. How can it be normal to smell so much gas? He swears with a single-carb car that it IS normal. Who is right here? I don't care if it's me or him, but I just want to be safe.

• Answer:

  It is NOT normal. PERIOD! He's either in denial or is clueless. Fuel vapor is explosive in the right concentration so this is something that MUST be fixed. Don't even think of driving the car until it's fixed. While it could be the sender gasket a more likely cause is a corroded fuel tank or leaking fuel filler neck. The fuel filler uses a small piece of rubber hose to connect the tube to the tank and that will grow brittle with age and eventually leak. It's very common for those old Fords to have major corrosion on the top of the fuel tank where it meets the underside of the car or where the tank retainer bands meet up with the tank.