MG Car Repair: Fuel system purge, electric pumps, stale gas

Question
Hello Howard,
I recently purchased a '79 Midget. The price was cheap on account of a suspected bad rod bearing (which I ended up confirming by pulling the oil pan...and indeed, there was about 1/8 inch of play between crank journey and rod cap).  Anyway, needless to say, I am pulling the engine but due to time constraints I probably won't get the whole thing ready to put back in for at least 2 months.  My concern is the fuel sitting in the tank and lines.  The seller of the car told me that the gas currently in the tank was already a few months old so I'm wonder if I should drain it all out rather than run 6+ month old gas at startup.  The car DOES have an aftermarket elect. fuel pump.  Can I simply stick the end of the fuel line into an old gas can, turn the ignition key and let the pump do its thing until all the gas is drained?   Thanks.

Answer
Hi Jed,
If there is not much gas in the tank that would work but if there is a lot of gas I would remove the line from the pump and lower it below the level of the bottom of the tank and put that in a can and just let it drain as you may damage the Electric pump as most electric pumps are not designed to run all the time. Most electric pumps for carburetors are designed to pump up pressure and only run a little to maintain that pressure as the engine runs.

Then fill the tank with fresh gas and that should mix with the little remaining stale gas and not be a problem.

Howard