thanks carl, yeah from your suggestions it could be the hatch seal is kinda bent in several directions in stuff i was just hoping that because it was in there and in one piece that that wouldn't be it, but like i said its probably not in the perfect sealing conditions its a lil twisted as seals can become. seerex and i just replaced all the vent house and the fuel tank and the vent take not less than 2 monhts ago. so i dont think its the nipple coming off the filler hose, but its a bitch to see up in there so maybe i should check again and make sure its all kosher. i have a turbo style muffler and the previous owner added about six inches of pipe to the lil nubbin that's on the turbo muffler if you dont use the shiny chrome tip so i would think that would help exclude that. my brother recommended putting some kind of lube like wd40 on the hatch seal to make sure it makes a decent seal and drive it and see if i'm still getting the fumes. i checked today and the gromet that surround the shifter linkage in the firewall was out of place so i put it all the way back in, that couldn't really be causing it could it? and where the heater hoses come through the firewall on the carb side of the engine bay it looks like the previous owner tried to seal around it with some half arse caulking crap. half arse literally cause its only about half way around the hose in the firewall.