Those holes behind the rear seat. Exhaust odor eliminated.

[Stormy]

This fall, when my son with mechanical aptitude came to visit from London, we worked on odds and ends on our 1963/64 Avanti R1 .  One of the items we addressed was a non working gas gauge.  After testing grounds, etc. it was determined that the culprit must be the sending unit.  After removing the rear seat and back, we removed the rear panel exposing the gas tank.  From there, we removed the sending unit and found the cork float functioned properly, so we put the unit in an ultrasonic cleaner for the evening .  After drying the unit the next day, electrical checks indicated it now functioned properly and putting it back into place confirmed our repair to be good. It's really nice to have a working gas gauge. 

I guess the above just leads up to my thought in the Title.  With the seat back removed we could see the "holes in the deck" that have been previously talked about.  One in the center near the tank is a 2" diameter hole with no apparent function.  Lowe's had a huge supply of I guess rubber bottle stops that were slightly tapered.  We used a 2 1/16" diameter stop to plug the 2" hole, sealing it in place with a clear silicone. 

The other two holes were 1/2" diameter and located in line with the brackets that extend out of the underside  of the seat back.  They obviously were aligned to fasten the seat back brackets to the floor.  but in this car, there had never been any fasteners , so  the back just rested on the rear of the seat cushion.  This seems to work fine and we plugged each hole with a bottle stopper of the correct size.  Do any of you have a description or pictures of the hardware used in the original Avanti to fasten the seat back brackets  to the floor?

This is getting long winded, I know, so apologies. When we reinstalled the rear panel we used some sticky backed weather stripping foam to seal off the interior from the gas tank area.  When all was reassembled and hole plugs and weather stripping were in place, we took a ride.  What a difference !  Previous rides would let us smell some exhaust , but now NO EXHAUST smell.  It was worth the effort. 

Edited November 21, 2020 by Stormy

[PackardV8]

Congrats on solving two problems in one go.

Now, it's time to do the same to the front firewall.  It's Swiss-cheese full of holes originally plugged with rubber grommets and bellows.  Sixty years later, most of those flimsy barriers are "perished" as you would say.  A day spent removing the carpet, re-sealing the firewall and then layering it with Dynamat will make for a great reduction in heat, noise and fumes.

 

jack vines