Exhaust fumes in \'54 Hornet

Unknown

Some months ago I asked this board for suggestions concerning exhaust fumes in my '54 Hornet. I tried your ideas, including injecting expanding foam filler in any joints or rust pinholes in the trunk area. All to no avail. I ran a piece of PVC pipe from the breather tube out the side of the car to temporarily divert fumes from the underside. This made no difference at all. Have any of you had this problem and would it help to weld the damper shaft holes shut? Will the engine run ok if I do this?

Unknown

Tom, I had a simular problem and it was a faulty rear trunk
seal. A new one corrected the fumes inside my car..Hope this
helps... Rich

Unknown

After looking at your original post and all of the good suggestions that were offered and did not cure the problem, the only thing that I could think of would be that after the new exhaust system was installed that a weld failed causing a leak. Other than that, and this is rather far fetched, is it possible that the fumes could be entering somewhere around the heater core or the ranco valve? I don't think that welding the damper shaft holes shut will solve the problem, but why not wrap the damper holes shut with an old fashioned "muffler bandage" and see what happens?

Unknown

Have someone pour some oil down the carb, with the engine running. It will make your exhaust leak easier to see.

Unknown

Thanks for the sugestions. I'll try both ideas. Except for the exhaust problem I really love the car. Apparently this is not a common problem with stepdowns?