chokeing on the cold rolling in!!!

[75??? franken-trunk]

i have a 84ish gmc serria classic that once had a 305 (it blew up badly now a 327) so its still a small block none the less... but now that mn. is getting cold, my truck is a real pain to start!!! its a m4mc      q jet... it has a choke with a hose on it but its cut... is it a vacume off the carb/ intake or what i really want to have a choke so i can get it to start in a month. any help or sugestions will help thanks   
        -Maxwell

[VileZambonie]

It sounds like you have the hot air pipe choke which is garbage. Switch it over to an electric choke coil. Wire the choke B+ off of an oil pressure  switch so it only starts to heat up when the engine is running rather than when the key is just turned on.

[werewolfx13]

Or install a hand choke kit..I personally prefer hand chokes..The cables needing lubed a couple times a year is the only part I don't like.

[Lt.Del]

Back in my ingenius high school days of when i knew what the definition of pi was, even though i still recall those useless numbers, 3.14, my choke wouldn't work on my ole moostang.

I had a way of solving problems that an engineer would envy.  I used fishing string.  By configuring that string a certain way around my carb and running it through the firewall and taping it onto my steering column, a simple pull would close the butterfly enough to start the engine.

Life was so simple back then....

[75??? franken-trunk]

It sounds like you have the hot air pipe choke which is garbage. Switch it over to an electric choke coil. Wire the choke B+ off of an oil pressure  switch so it only starts to heat up when the engine is running rather than when the key is just turned on.

 how would i go about doing this? i have a aftermarket oil psi gauge that came with the truck, the factory does not work... its the plastic tube style. it took me like 5 mins of freezing my buns off today to get the thing to run on its own...

[Captkaos]

Where does the hose that is cut go?  To the manifold?  why not just replace the hose?

[75??? franken-trunk]

well it is a m4mc carb as i said, the hose goes from the choke canister on the carb to nowhere (in other words i don't know where it is suppose to go), its only like an inch long... the truck has after market headders on it if that makes a difference... the new motor i put in is a 68 327 small block, on that motor is a heat coil and choke rod that come out of the intake... could i use that and remove the one off the carb or is that a waste of time?

[Captkaos]

Can you take a pic of what you currently have?
I would probably get an electric choke.  Is your like this?  http://oldcarblog.com/blog2/2007/10/17/how-to-convert-a-rochester-carb-to-electric-choke/

[75??? franken-trunk]

ok heres some pics (i hope new at this) that web site did help but i have no wires for it. but i now know its cuz i do have headders so i do not have the tubes and valves to make the old style work... so here they are.........


ps. the intake mounted coil and rod are not attached......

[Captkaos]

you can tie into the oil pressure wire and run it to the electric choke to make it work...

[75??? franken-trunk]

what about the intake mounted heat coil i need something now and im broke?

[werewolfx13]

I still suggest installing a hand choke..$10, about an hour to do the conversion, plus maybe an extra $5 for some chain and cable lube to spray down the inside of the cable jacket.

[hatzie]

In the early 80s GM started using electric chokes.

The picture is a little blurry but it looks like you still have the 305 4bbl Rochester that came on your truck or a very similar unit. That's good.  The choke hookup should be factory and better yet FREE.

The oil pressure switch on your 84 will have a 3 wire plug.  Two of these wires, for the Choke warning light and Oil pressure gauge, go back thru the harness to the firewall plug and from there to the gauge panel. 

The third wire should be plugged into the choke but it's not. Just plug this factory choke wire onto the terminal on the choke and you are done. 
Hopefully you didn't cut the wire off when you did the engine swap...  Get your wiring stuff out and spend some quality time with the soldering iron and heat gun if you did.

FYI:  The original choke plug is a Delphi-Packard 56 series female plug but you could get away with an insulated female 1/4 disconnect.
The plastic/rubber hose is a drain to keep condensation from pooling in the choke housing.