manual choke vs. electric choke?

[exodus138]

i recently purchased a rochester carb on ebay and when i recieved it i saw it had a manual choke. i have never operated one and im wondering if i should switch to an electric choke. but before i do i was wondering what your input would be as in which is better?

[zieg85]

You are going to get many responses to this question.  The best answer depends on the end use, how stock is the engine and your climate.

IMO, nothing beats an electric choke that is set up right.  My Chevy, I put the pedal to the floor once, turn the key and it starts right up and I can pull away without hesitation all through the warm up cycle. 

I also had an old 65 that had a manual choke and I liked having the control but flooded it once or twice before I got the hang of it.

If you decide to go manual, go with a good cable set up and take time to make sure you run it with as few of bends as possible, really pretty easy to do on just about any truck.

Good luck either way

[exodus138]

Thanks for you response! It originally had an electric choke, when it had a 454 but i recently have swapped it. Its a 350 now and its pretty stock except for edelbrock intake manifold and hedders.
The climate is pretty good i live about 20 miles east of San Bernardino California so the climate is regularly warm.

[zieg85]

Personally I wouldn't trust anything that comes from e-bay without first checking it out or having it checked out by someone who knows.  To go back to electric is the choke pull-off there and working?  Is the electric choke wire still present on your truck?  What did the carb come off of?  Does it have the right size jets for your application?  There are many other things that goes along with those.  I am no expert by any means, just know enough to be dangerous.  I have put accelerator pumps in and changed jets but don't get much deeper than that.

[exodus138]

is the choke pull-off there and working?  Is the electric choke wire still present on your truck?  What did the carb come off of?  Does it have the right size jets for your application? 

i dont know what the choke pull off is if you have a pic could you post?

yeah the wire is still present.

the carb came off a 74 pick up. (i have a 79 k10)

how can i see if the jets are the right size?

sorry for all the questions by the way and thanks for everyones help.