Manual Vs Auto-Choke on a Quad?

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

I'm tearing this truck down. The only items not requiring attention are the guts of the engine, transmission and rear end. The plan is all original. Where that's not possible OER or as close as reasonably possible.

That said, years ago my old mechanic advised my cold start issues was due to the auto-choke combined with the missing stove pipe. The pipe will be included with the restore.

Thing of it is, my quad (edit: 4bbl Rochester) is missing the auto-choke components, or at least some. More than that, the carb and manual choke on this haven't failed me by any measure in decades, which is another way of saying I like it a lot. On topic, can anyone advise the correct routing for a manual choke through the firewall?

My primary question is, what would you do?

I added a poll, just cuz..............Thank you

[special-K]

What do you mean by quad? I've never heard that used except to mean 4bbl, as in dual quads. What carb do you have? Do you have a QuadraJet? Why not get the parts and fix it right? If you would rather have manual choke, that's fine. How you route the choke cable depends on where you put the knob. You've run for years with a cold start issue? The factory choke always worked well for me without out the riser. I'm not sure what you are trying to find out. I'll wait till I do to vote. I am confused by the poll

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Sorry, I have a Rochester QJet Carburetor 7041209

I like the poll results so far..........1 1 1 1 1 1

I don't know how he came to the conclusion the missing riser contributed to the cold start issue I was having with the automatic choke. He was a very good mechanic and had a 71 Suburban himself. That said, I know he wasn't especially great with carbs, because he failed rebuilding the one on my former 75 Dart, saying it was shot. His "Master Po" subsequently had it running perfectly. My cold start problem was LONG ago. It's has started every time since the carb was rebuilt and manual choke added, which was in 1995ish. Thanks for chiming in K, always appreciate your input.

Poll is pretty loose. Basically what do you advise and have.

[geezer#99]

The riser forces some of the exhaust under the intake and out the other manifold. That exhaust heat is what heats the coil.
With no heat it takes longer for the coil to move. It eventually does when the intake warms up.

[special-K]

I put a manual choke on my '71 C/30 tow truck because it had a Q-jet on an Eldelbrock manifold with no provision for factory choke. I put the factory knob/cable in the cluster below the headlight switch, where the factory put it. I can't remember where it came through the firewall. It passed through one of the existing plugs for tail light wiring, washer hoses, or oil pressure line.

The heat stove is for the purpose of warming a cold engine. That mechanic wasn't wrong. But a truck will start up and idle when it's cold with just the choke. I let my trucks warm up till they have heat, which is warm enough to run well... and I never use an ice scraper. I have run open element air cleaners on many of my trucks, with no heat riser, and trucks do just fine

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Seems something else was wrong with my carburetor. Makes me wonder if the choke was bad. He was generally a very good mechanic. Course that was before he started tweeking, the dumb bastad. Lost his vision, his business and his brains. A shame, because he was a nice guy and generally did some nice work on the truck...................That said, he or someone working for him cut my shroud up when they installed the wrong radiator. I didn't even notice, because I was ignorant, and the fact the engine threw a bearing and the oil pump quit the night I picked it up........Yeah, no kidding. The kicker is, I had been fired earlier in the day because the boss was emotional. Two days later the best dog I've ever had died. Great song lyrics if you like country.

Times have changed, I prefer to do things myself as much as possible. Looking back, it was ignorant to have paid to have the radiator replaced. Beings my mother is all things feminine and father a composer, I wasn't exactly exposed to this stuff, but these trucks are pretty simple, and this board very helpful. Thanks for the responses.

I've decided to pull the manual choke for good.............I don't like how said mechanic routed the kill switch to the HEI. I was going to drill another hole, but I think I may have found a better spot, as my choke cable is with one water hose through the firewall. At the moment whether or not there should be two hoses is beyond me. The washer wasn't hooked up when I got it, but I'll hook it back up.....