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As it stands right now, previous owner I believe removed the choke off my holly 4barrel, and kind of wired the butterfly wide open, and ran the car this way.
I have another classic car, with a manual choke, and I use it. But I’m not comfortable with my C3 not having a choke at all… he left some bits of the choke linkage attached, but, in essence, its gone. Posting a pic to illustrate. So where can I get an automatic choke for my carb, and how many people remove theirs and run that way??
Get the numbers off your carb and see if the replacement parts are available from Holley.
Depending on the age and condition of that carb, you might be better off ordering a new one complete.
Bolt it on and be set for many years.
Depending on where you live, you may or may not need a choke at all.
Installation of a electric choke should be fairly straightforward. One wire hook-up.
I ran a Holley with a electric choke for a dozen years or so. Never can get them perfect. They stay on to long in warm weather and or not long enough in cold weather.
But they work and give you the high idle feature as well.
I just looked, you live in Arizona. A couple pumps of the throttle and your running. You shouldn't need a choke at all if your accelerator pump is working as it should.
Why complicate things?
We don't know where you live. If you live in AZ or lower NM, you might be fine without a choke. Otherwise, it would be much better starting if the choke was operational. Firing it up in cold weather will be difficult...at best.
I believe that no matter where you live, the choke helps stabilize the idle (running higher rpm) until there is enough heat in the engine to maintain the lower rpm on its own. It shouldn't take but a couple minutes to do that unless it's dead-of-winter Montana cold. If no choke, you have to use your foot to modulate it until it's capable on its own.
Last edited by barkingrats; Apr 25, 2025 at 10:07 PM.
I had a similar situation with my 1969, from Florida. No choke and a holley carb. I've reached out to Lars, purchased a restorable q-jet, have Lars to restore it and installed it back, installing an original choke (mechanical, not manual). Car runs much better. I live in WA state, without a choke it's quite hard to turn car on during colder months (like 9 out of 12)
Depending on where you live, you may or may not need a choke at all.
Second this. I live in the sunny south and I do not have a choke on my c3. Fires up within 1-2 seconds of cranking and holds its own idle almost immediately.
Thanks for all the input, guys. I lve in Arizona, just outside of Scottsdale. We generally have 4 cool/cold months, but rarely freezing (and not for very long).
So I don’t anticipate too many ‘cold’ start mornings…
The car is going to be transported from Ohio to Az in a week or so, after all this researching, I’m just going to leave it as is and see how it acclimates to dryer, warmer daily temps.
Look on EBay for a choke kit. Some are used, some new. Some come with linkage, some don't.
At EBay Motors, in the search box enter: Holley Electric Choke
Around $32.
You will need one wire thru the firewall and tap into the fuse panel. Look for a fuse seldom used for other things and MUST be through the IGN Key On only circuit.
Just one-wire-hookup. The GRD wire will be the carb itself.
Not sure how many amps you need, but it's likely higher than some fuses.
Again. Do not use a circuit hot all the time.
I just looked, you live in Arizona. A couple pumps of the throttle and your running. You shouldn't need a choke at all if your accelerator pump is working as it should.
Why complicate things?
Last edited by TKX 5-SPEED C3; Apr 27, 2025 at 12:26 AM.
When I purchased my 79 the previous owned installed Edlebrock intake manifold and carb with no electric choke with the choke plate held open. Sometimes it would take a lot of cranking to get it started in colder weather. Solved that by getting a push pull throttle cable at a lawnmower store. Mounted the **** under the dash. Just have to remember to push it closed when warmed up. Shades of the 1940's
I will leave it as is, without choke, and see if it acts different in our “dry heat”
BTW, with new spark plugs the motor fired up first try. Will try to post pic of what I pulled out….
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Choke or no choke
