MuuMuu101's 68 Dart, A Learning Process...

If you had a choke working, the idle would be higher after a cold start, there is a fast idle cam on the passenger side of the carb at the bottom of the choke linkage which kicks it up. In the past I always did about 1400 rpm and that seemed OK.

Does your car have an insulating carb gasket? If it doesn't, you may be getting some fuel boil over. That had happened to me before. If it's hard to start, try holding your foot to the floor while cranking. When the engine starts, just let off and it should straighten up.