I recently bought a 1959 Ford. It's a Custom 300, 4 dr sedan with the Mileage Maker 6 and 3 speed manual. It runs and drives fine so far, but I noticed the fuel tank vent tube has been disconnected and plugged. The fuel feed line to the engine comes out of the front of the tank. There is a fitting comes out of the top drivers side of the tank that my manual says is supposed to be connected to a fuel tank vent tube. It is plugged off near the tank, and I can see part of the disconnected line in the trunk. Is it ok to run with this vent plugged off? It seems to not be causing any problems so far. What was it's purpose? Thanks!

If I had to guess, I'd say there was a past problem with gas fumes in the car and someone bypassed the vent and installed a vented cap. If the tank isn't vented someway, the car will starve for fuel and worst case is the fuel pump suction could collapse the tank.

Check your gas cap to see if it's a vented type. If it is, you should be OK as is. If you're like most of us though, you want it to look and function as designed.

It's entirely possible this is a factory fix. Nose around for a Ford tech bulletin.

I checked and the gas cap is not vented. The line was plugged with a piece of metal in the rubber hose and a clamp, definately a newer back yard job. It's puzzling why it's not having fuel problems. I can see parts of the old vent line in the trunk, but can't tell where it is supposed to vent to. I agree, I'd like to have it original. Does anyone know where the end of the vent line would go? I wouldn't think it should end in the trunk due to fumes but I'm not sure.