MG Car Repair: 79 MGB battery draw, fuse one, starter solenoid

Question
Had my B running fine the other night.  repaired a wire on a speaker and now the battery is almost dead.  I put the charger on and some dash lights and the right parking lights come on dim and surge.  I was turning the engine on and off trying to set the timing.  Could I have burned the starter solenoid?

Answer
Hi Tim,
You could not do anything to a speaker wire to cause all that.
You first need a wiring diagram for the car to start any diagnostic procedure.
First disconnect one cable of the battery and charge it. Then put a 12v test light between the cable and the battery post (with everything turned off) If the test light is bright then you have something shorting out in the system somewhere. Leave the test light connected and start by disconnecting one item at a time. The alternator first. Then each fuse one at a time. When the light goes out, look at the wiring diagram to see what circuits and items are on that circuit. Then you will have to put the fuse back in and go to each item you seen in the diagram that was on that circuit and disconnect each item to see what puts the light out.
You also might look in the area that you were in when you were working on the speaker wire to see if there were other wires in that area that you may have shorted some way.
let me know,
Howard