What I gained ? No hassles stemming from a malfunctioning choke. No running rich because of it. No choke slamming shut (had this happen at the drag strip with the 331 and it's sixpack setup with it's manual choke) when doing a burnout. No sticking in fast idle either. The butterfly does create some airflow restriction, how much is a 64 million dollar question though. All I know is I don't need one and simply taking 5 minutes to remove it is time well worth spending. The hole thru the throttle body that the choke rod passes thru on a Holley can be plugged by leaving the plastic bearing slide in place and screwing screw thru the hole. There's probably more gain here that I haven't thought of.
CHOKE? WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING CHOKE!!!!!!!!!
- Thread starter D.Hearne
- Start date
69gmachine
Member
Good point D... not everything is measured in .10ths. I guess I was trying to justify all the effort I put into making mine functional. If it starts giving me problems, it's good to know I won't be giving up much in terms of drivability if I yank it.
Had a manual choke in my '68 that really never worked...granted, we didn't get much cold weather in CA, but on the odd morning that did hit the 30's it really didn't need it that much. My '67 (not by choice) has an electric choke on it now, although this one's so good-natured in the cold I'm not sure it needs it either. Started it up the other day when it was 22 degrees out and instantly killed the choke and shifted to R, she idled very happily at 600rpm, no questions asked, with minimal lean spot stumbling.
My bike on the other hand...
My bike on the other hand...
67topless
Member
Hey everyone! I've dissapeared once again with the birth of my son back on May 5th (that will be an easy Cinco De Mayo birthday to remember). Anyway, I've had some problems with my choke sticking while under normal driving conditions. As you can imagine, I don't like pulling up to a stop light with my 289 turning over 2k RPMS. I was going to work on replacing the choke (I've all ready pulled it apart and cleaned it once), but after reading this thread was wondering if I can just take it off. If so, are there any special provisions I need to take?
Runing a Holley 4160 with an electric choke.
Many thanks,
Scott
Runing a Holley 4160 with an electric choke.
Many thanks,
Scott
Hack
15 Year Member
You can also dial down the choke so that the high idle isn't so crazy high. The high idle only needs to be high enough to get the car to run, not screaming at the neighbors, chirp the wheels when you put the car in drive high.
My '70 has a 302 with well over 100k miles that came out of an EFI vehicle, so it isn't fresh. I need a little bit of choke to get it to catch when it's cold. I backed off the choke and now it idles much lower and the high idle comes off almost right away. I decided to try this before getting rid of the choke altogether and it is a lot better. My car won't start without a little bit of choke. I think part of the problem is also that I don't put many miles on it per year, either and it sits all winter.
My '70 has a 302 with well over 100k miles that came out of an EFI vehicle, so it isn't fresh. I need a little bit of choke to get it to catch when it's cold. I backed off the choke and now it idles much lower and the high idle comes off almost right away. I decided to try this before getting rid of the choke altogether and it is a lot better. My car won't start without a little bit of choke. I think part of the problem is also that I don't put many miles on it per year, either and it sits all winter.
My 4010's choke is adjusted that the high idle comes on before the plate closes. For some reason any movement of the choke plate on my car will flood the engine. Pulling the handle all the way out on my manual choke is one part of my anti-theft scheme. Just a few seconds of cranking it with the plate closed will flood the engine. On cold starts I pull the handle just enough that the high idle mechanism on but the plate is still open since a higher idle is all my car needs to get going on cold starts. I need to be easy on the throttle for a block or two to keep it from stumbling then after that it's fine.
Before this carb I had a 4160 with a milled choke horn and had no problems, either. Of course where I live it averages between 60F and 70F all year.
Before this carb I had a 4160 with a milled choke horn and had no problems, either. Of course where I live it averages between 60F and 70F all year.
67topless
Member
Yea, you can remove it. I remove all of the parts on mine, choke, choke butterfly and rod, and the linkage behind the choke assembly. The hole thru the throttle body, that the linkage passes thru can be plugged with a flat head screw, screwed thru the plastic bushing the linkage goes thru. To start the engine, just give it a pump shot before starting, then feather the throttle till it idles on it's own. In winter that may take a few minutes, it'll give the heater time to warm too. If it doesn't start with one pump shot, give it another. With a good ignition, two shots of the accellerator pedal are usually all's needed, unless the vehicle has sat a while and the gas has evaporated out the bowl. In which case you'll need to crank it more to give a mechanical fuel pump time to recharge the fuel bowl. With an electric pump, it'll need to have the ignition on before cranking to do this. (my 77 Comet is this way, it's only started once a week at most)
