OPTIONS FOR CHOKE OPEN/CLOSE

Its been way too long since I fooled with a choked carb. Readying a new street car-318/400HP/Holley DP 750 with a choke plate. I've got aluminum heads with no heat riser. Any options out there for reliable choke operation? I'm in one of the original 13 colonies, so it gets cold 6 months of the year.

I'm using an electric choke. Fed it with a relay just in case. It works but is pretty rich at start up and it comes on again after a restart when the ambient is cold but the engine may not be. It's not perfect but it does work.

I'm a fan of those electric antifreeze heaters that splice into your lower radiator hose. Plug them in for 30-40 and it gets the whole engine warm to the touch. Engine will crank over faster and come up to operating temp that much quicker. This combined with a well set up carb will do just fine in cold weather.

Choke cable is dirt-simple and under driver's control.
I use a coolant heater kinda like what Neil mentioned, but mine works through the heater hoses.
It's on the K10 plow truck, where originality isn't a concern.
Works well, cuts choke & warm-up time by 15+ minutes in 30-degree cold.
Also, the magnetic or core-plug block heaters help.

Had a 625 A.F.B. on the old 66 Newport with an electric choke. Took longer to open than it needed to. I put a manual choke cable on it with an oval loop on the end. I could pull the cable out for automatic operation, then when underway ,push it in to force the choke open , prevent cylinder washing and fuel wasting. Or you could just put a manual cable on it and be done with it. Doesn't take much practice to master one.

See if Holley sells a electric choke conversion kit for it
I've got one my 1969 Dart GTS with a 650 CFM vacuum secondary Holley that works very well

Could you post a picture of how you did the hook up to the carb? Thanks!

Sorry no pics. This was in the early 90's when pictures were on rectangular sheets of stiff paper.

Holley Double Pumpers are track oriented carbs and as such are calibrated very rich in the transitions and at cruise. Much richer than street oriented carbs. You may just try starting and driving it as is once it gets cold. Other than allowing an extra minute to warm up, it might be just fine. No heat cross-over could be a bigger problem in certain weather because of icing. My Cuda starts fine with no choke but it does ice up the carb and intake in certain weather with no heat in the cross-over. And I will add that I don't drive the car below about 45* or so.

Manual choke. If you use one at all. I wouldn't. Never did on anything beyond stock. Unless you are going to drive it below freezing temps. You're just going to foul the plugs up.

If it's chilly, you should let it warm up some before driving it anyway.

electric chokes are simple and easy to adjust. i use them.

I thought that there was a fix that came out in the later 70's-80's that had something to do with the oil pressure sender. Don't think that oil temp sender was common back then or maybe it was a TEE fitting with pressure and temp. Supposed to give more precise temp signal to the electric choke as per what the factory was using during that time line. The electric choke was an upgrade from the intake manifold well/bi-metal coil, but this hybrid was supposed to be right on with opening the choke at correct motor temp.

there isn't any temp signal sent to the choke mechanism. it's simply voltage, commonly a 12v source, that heats the spring in the choke. i use the ballast resistor as a voltage source. you can use either side of the ballast. the more voltage the quicker the choke heats and comes off, less voltage choke stays on longer. the plastic housing cap is also adjustable along with an idle speed screw so basically you can do whatever suits you with adjustments. simple and effective.