[Cliff R]

I had a 4781-2 for quite a while and used it on my first 455. Tom helped me get it dialed in and it was flawless in all areas.......except.......no choke.

Not having a choke just doesn't cut it for me. As many threads as we read where folks recommend blocking heat crossovers and not using a choke I will tell anyone reading this that deal sucks!

ALL start ups involved adding consideraby MORE fuel to the engine than you'd ever need with a working choke. As long as it was warm or hot outside the "ordeal" I went thru wasn't too hateful, but you still had to pump the accl quite a times and sit in the drivers seat "feathering" the throttle until enough heat got into the intake so the engine would idle on its own. Tolerable but certainly NOT the ideal scenario. I think this is why many folks recommend no choke and a cold intake as they use these vehicles most of if not all the time in warm or hot summer months and if they do live in a colder climate don't start them up very often and for sure aren't driving them a lot when it's really cold outside.

When the cold weather moved in the amount of fuel to get the engine to fire and stay running became rediculous. If for any reason I had to move the car off the lift in the Fall or Winter it was a serious PITA. Below freezing it would require 10-15 shots of fuel from the carb just to burble for 5-8 seconds (too rich), smooth out when it cleaned up the excess fuel I just dumped into the intake, then die out when it went lean again. I'd have to repeat this process over and over till it got some heat in the intake and for sure you were STUCK in the drivers seat "feathering" the throttle to keep the engine running because it was NOT going to idle on it's own for quite a while.

Jump ahead to about 2005. I had shelved the big Holley by that time and moved to the 1977 Q-jet. It ran equally as well everyplace and a much better fit for the Shaker and associated parts. It didn't have a choke either and still a serious PITA to fire up the engine in cold weather. So I decided to put an electric choke on it. From that moment cold starts were instant and I had fast idle to keep the engine running. One of maybe two shots from the carbs accl pump would set the fast idle cam and it would roar to life and run flawlessly until warmed up. I'd just "blip" the throttle once along the way to get the carbs fast idle cam to drop to a lower RPM, then one more time when I was ready to drive off and the engine would drop to curb idle speed and sit there idling on it's own.

So there's my take on the subject and right up until the day I sold the Ventura the only difference between starting it and a modern FI vehicle was having to blip the throttle once or twice to set the choke and put a shot of fuel into the intake......FWIW........