Did you ever figure out what the problem was with the gas smell and such? I have the "exact" same car and the "exact" same problem. I've been searching for weeks to try and figure out what the problem is with no luck. I don't have the money to take it to a dealer and I'm going CRAZY trying to figure it out on my own.
I also have another small problem now too. I let a friend look over the car and he unplugged a few vacuum hoses and forgot how to put them back the way they were. I've tried everything I could think of to figure out which one goes where. I've even posted here and other forums, looking for a picture of the Emission Control Set (the VSV's on top of the engine) and I can't seem to find one anywhere. Even asked around to see if someone would take a picture of theirs and still...nothing.

BUT all of that was after the gas smell, etc...