Too cold to start car

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you can get a manual choke cable at Lowes for $10 packaged as a lawn mower throttle cable.
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I have a choke cable and the kit, that's not the issue. The piece below won't fit properly, even though I have the right kit for my carb (according to jegs)
x4eWBmV.jpg


Don't wanna wait til June! I already had to put my bike away for the winter, I want to have some fun when it's sunny out! And I'm in the city so they frown upon shooting guns in the backyard.

I've had the car about 4 years or so, and I've managed to start it in the winter before without a choke. But, this is my first winter trying it with the current engine. But all the fuel and ignition parts are the same, aside from new sparkplugs.
 
Need to find a photo of it assembled on carb. And bend rod to suit.
 
Pump, pump, pump slowly. Let the accelerator pump do it's job. Crank a little while not touching the foot feed. Stop cranking. Pump, pump, pump slowly. Let the accelerator pump do its job. Crank a little while not touching the foot feed. Stop cranking. Pump, pump, pump slowly. Let the accelerator pump do it's job. Crank a little while not touching the foot feed. POP POP. Pump, pump, pump slowly. Let the... OK you get it. POP POP POP repeat POP POP POP POP pump the foot feed a little and hope it starts running and keep it running that way till it actually runs and keep the foot feed slightly depressed to keep it running until it will idle. Drive to store and buy a choke that fits.
 
Mattax said:
25* F is not particularly cold for starting an engine.
A lot of hot rods don't have an operating choke. But without it, you have to compensate with your foot. Give it extra pump shots until its got enough fuel and as soon as it fires, feather it to keep going and then hold the throttle cracked open enough so it will idle fast. Then after a minute or two, slow the idle (with your foot). Until its warmed up, you'll have to keep your right foot on the throttle and use your left for (both clutch and) brake.

If you give it too many pump shots and it 'floods', remove the air cleaner lid and let it partially evaporate.
Or. Push the throttle to the floor and hold it there while cranking, until it clears.

Use your nose and eyes to determine the condition and reasons its not starting.
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Shouldn`t have to be told that!
 
Bodyperson said:
Pump, pump, pump slowly. Let the accelerator pump do it's job. Crank a little while not touching the foot feed. Stop cranking. Pump, pump, pump slowly. Let the accelerator pump do its job. Crank a little while not touching the foot feed. Stop cranking. Pump, pump, pump slowly. Let the accelerator pump do it's job. Crank a little while not touching the foot feed. POP POP. Pump, pump, pump slowly. Let the... OK you get it. POP POP POP repeat POP POP POP POP pump the foot feed a little and hope it starts running and keep it running that way till it actually runs and keep the foot feed slightly depressed to keep it running until it will idle. Drive to store and buy a choke that fits.
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After the second set of pumps a double pumper Holley could have delivered 420 CC of fuel. That's 1 3/4 cups of fuel. It would probably be flooded by now and that's just the 35 CC pumps.
 
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318willrun said:
None of my cars have chokes. They'll start on a 25* day without batting an eye using the same method as quoted by Bad Sport. After 30 seconds of "feathering" it, they will usually idle on their own and I can walk away.
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Exactly. Never had a working choke on any of the carburetors I've had on my truck and it always cranks up fine. 25 or 100 out. What carburetor do you have? It's entirely possible it's too lean. I know, it should have a choke if it's expected to start halfway decent in cold weather, but if the carburetor is tuned correctly, it should start pretty easily without one, even when it's cold out.
 
lilfontleroy said:
yea battery is fine and I agree with everything you said but if the engine was warmed before he tried to start it we wouldnt be having this conversation either
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I looked at your avatar and just remembered I have to take a dump.
 
ONJ was such a hottie!
 
Oh no, the puns have started. This thread died!

Slightly away from my initial question, I have considered replacing the carb altogether for one with vacuum secondaries. As my current build has a less aggressive cam, lower compression, lower stall converter. Wasn't necessarily my goal, but it's what I could afford at the time if I wanted to ever get the car back on the road.
 
phaelax said:
holley 750 double pump
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Just curious, after having sat for a few days, have you by chance checked to see if you have fuel?

If not, just for grins pull the air cleaner lid and operate the throttle and look into the primaries to see if your actually getting fuel.
 
phaelax said:
Oh no, the puns have started. This thread died!

Slightly away from my initial question, I have considered replacing the carb altogether for one with vacuum secondaries. As my current build has a less aggressive cam, lower compression, lower stall converter. Wasn't necessarily my goal, but it's what I could afford at the time if I wanted to ever get the car back on the road.
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Quick Fuel Brawler Carburetors | JEGS
 
weird.. over the years i've had quite a few cars with no choke and managed to start them in colder weather then that.. is it even kicking over the slightest bit?

i usually crank it, pump a few times, crank it, pump a few times, crank and it usually kicks and stalls. then pump a few times and crank it.. may take a couple of times but it will start and you'll have to play with the throttle to keep it running... with no choke you have to feed it plenty of fuel..
 
It'll probably have to wait until thursday, but I'll check. I work 12s, so I don't see any sunlight for the first half of the week, and last thing I wanna do when I get home is go stand out in the cold with a flashlight.

It takes quite a few tries, but it will eventually kick over just a little bit but not enough to keep it going.
 
318willrun said:
that should even start better in the cold. Should only have to pump that once, getting twice the gas.
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Old gas doesent help either. I have a ‘95 chevy that wont go if its below freezing, old gas, like a year. If i plug it in for a couple hours it will run.
 
Tooljunkie said:
Old gas doesent help either. I have a ‘95 chevy that wont go if its below freezing, old gas, like a year. If i plug it in for a couple hours it will run.
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yeah, kind of backs what I stated in post 33. A choke might help "Mask" the problem.
 
All i do is make sure the battery is charged couple pumps of the gas and fires right up, no choke.
 
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