If you are smelling gas then don't drive the car until this problem is corrected. I would check under the car where you think the smell is coming from and there should be evidence of gas leaking somewhere. The fuel pump is located in that area. My 82 has the fuel filter in the engine compartment but yours could be in the same area as the pump. With the engine just stopping I wouldn't be inclined to think the problem is with the filter. Do you know for certain that the pump is running when the ignition is turned on? That puts the system under pressure and I would think you could spot or smell a leak at that time. Those fuel lines are pretty durable but something could have flipped up from the road and nicked one. If the line is nicked then a compression coupling should work to repair it. Getting the right size of coupling is important and if the line is metric you need to be very careful if you use something else other that exactly what fits the ID of the line. Hopefully the pump is not the issue (Lots of bucks).