I've searched a bunch on how to adjust my choke on my Edelbrock 4 bbl, non-electric, and am not having much luck. If someone is familiar with them and would give me some pointers off line I would appreciate it. It's on a 350 Chevy if that matters.
Here are some pictures. Not an electric choke, not a manual choke. I’m more of a single barrel old Mopar guy, but I think the choke on the front (smaller) barrels should close, they never do and it’s not obvious to me how the should. It’s very hard starting, lots of pumping required, or a shot of starter fluid. Been that way since I’ve owned it.
That's a Rochester Quadrajet carb. Edelbrock did make a clone of those, I'm not sure if that's one or not. Anyway, there should be a choke thermostat on the intake manifold that links to the choke linkage on the right side of the carb to open and close the choke valve.
Says Edelbrock on the front, so must be the clone. I assume the choke plates on the front (smaller) should be closed when cold. I guess I just need to study the darned thing more tomorrow. It’s a challenge to get to see everything, but would this have something that gets heat from the crossover in the intake to control it? I wasn’t able to easily manipulate anything to get the choke to close to find a starting point. Searching on the web only brings up electric chokes, which are pretty simple.
The choke thermostat is supposed to sit in a pocket in the exhaust crossover part of the intake manifold. It has a link that comes up and hooks up to the choke linkage on the side of the carb. Some aftermarket manifolds may not have a place to mount a choke thermostat. Open the throttle a bit to allow the choke valve to move to the closed position.
Choke doesn’t move, opening the throttle doesn’t make any difference. I understand that you need to open it to get it to set to the position it should be for the temperature, just seems to be fixed. I’ll spend some time tomorrow trying to figure out the thermostat part. This has helped get me on a good path. Thanks.
The choke spring is missing. you need more parts to make it work. You need what is called a divorced choke like was used back in the days. https://www.edelbrock.com/quadrajet...big-block-chevy-performer-manifolds-1931.html
I think you need to look at your picture closer, it clearly says Quadrajet. From what I can see in your pictures, you do not have any thermostatic device to operate the choke. That is why it doesn't close. It looks like your carb is what they call a "divorced" choke. You need a kit like this to make the choke work. It looks like your manifold had a well for it to fit in.
View attachment 4998345 Same set up was used on many Holley's in the mid-60's. Here is a picture of how it should be set up on your Q Jet.
That is not the right carb for that manifold. That manifold has a egr valve (blocked off) and the carb for it would have had a dial type thermostat with a heat tube coming out of the manifold going into the choke head. I would find a non-egr manifold and then use the choke setups others have shown.
Everything suggested is the answer to choke issue . There are 2 flaps on the top of QJet one is choke one is secondary air flap. I have never touched a QJet with a stuck choke flap . If the top has been removed and linkage not reconnected in the inside of the carb body this could cause the frozen choke flap also . To make it work as designed , you need carb swap or manifold swap . I was looking at the image of the throttle cable connected to the carb . Something looks odd to me also in that image . Never saw throttle cable connected to the lower part of the throttle arm and going towards the front . Always connected to the top of the arm going towards the rear . Maybe I’m looking at the image incorrectly , this is not your issue , but I think once it’s running correctly this could cause some issues in safety .
As to whether it’d Edelbrock or not - there is a tag on the forward edge, which I can’t get a picture of, which has the Edelbrock name. It’s held on with s screw, and I supposed they could take another carb, modify it and put their name in it. I’d tell you what it’s on, but I might get banned, so let’s just leave it that it’s a factory setup. The front throttle connection is correct and proper for what it is. All the rest of what is mentioned will be studied closely today starting when I go to the shop in a little bit. I suspect at this point that it has been wrong since it was manufactured. If you want more details feel free to pm me, I’d be happy to discuss it off line in detail. Thanks again for all the pointers.
The spot the coil mounts on in the pictures above is flat. Mine is angled and has a plate on it. I cannot get the choke plate to move, carb is coming off so I can study it and figure out what is amiss. Something besides missing the choke spring is going on.
As TA DAD said this manifold would need the heat tube that fits in place of that plate. The choke stat would look like this. That rubber hose on the bottom right would go to the heat tube, the other tube would go to the back top of the carburetor.
Looks like this may be what you need for the divorced choke. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...rFzAdzYEiuGnafeGNV6bIDK8MB6dx8PxoCN2oQAvD_BwE
The plot thickens. Got the carb off, found the mechanism was zip tied so that the choke could never move. Now, except for the missing divorce spring setup, it seems to be as it should. I can probably get that in a day or two, might have to make a wedge to make it fit on the mount, but I think I’ve got a plan. No idea why things are the way they are, but I suppose it doesn’t matter now. Thanks to all you guys.
Went back and read the newest post that must have appeared while I was slowly typing - now I don’t even have to make anything! You guys are great! Thanks.
Go on e-Bay and get a choke cable 6' long and connect it up to the choke linkage. The cable set up is the best I think..
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