MG Car Repair: mgb, weber carbs, infinite lack

Question
QUESTION: hi howard. i wrote you earlier about my 77 mgb. wiring problems and i was going to trace the wires.i have run into a problem in that the distributer i think has been replaced.there is only one wire to it and all the diagrams show three.this may be over my head.in the mean time the gas smells old.can i pump the tank out using the cars fuel pump?

ANSWER: Hi Gary,
It depends on which distributor you have. If you have a pointed distributor it should only have one wire but if you have the Opus/Lucas with a large box attached to the distributor and the vacuum advance mounted on the box, then you should have three wires.
The Opus/Lucas failed so often that I doubt you have one because most failed before they got out of warranty so everyone would replace them with either aftermarket electronic or they would get an older pointed distributor and install that. 76 to 77 was the change over to Opus/Lucas so you could have either pointed or three wire electronic.

BLM in their infinite lack of wisdom removed the drain plug from the gas tanks on MGs and removed most of the oil drains on Triumph differentials etc.

It would be better to remove the fuel line from the pump and lower it to drain the fuel because the pump is too expensive to run it enough to drain a tank. I have seen it done but I didn't like to put that much strain on a pump.

Howard

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QUESTION: i disconnected the hose at the carb and used the fuel pump on the car to get it started and it now is syphoning. is there a way to get the old fuel out of the carberator? i have a webber

Answer
It depends on what Weber you have. Some Weber carbs had an external plug in the lower part of the float chamber that held the jet. If it is one of these you can just remove the plug and drain the float chamber. If not, you would have to either remove the top plate or remove the carb to empty it.
Howard