How to add choke to carbs?

what kind of carbs?  stock 1600 has a single 34-pict 3 (with an electric choke).  i'm guessing kads?

Good questionI live in New York as well

Your foot.    Just takes 1 minute of warm up time and your good to go.  Most of the times I have ran into more issues with chokes than benefits.

When cold, pump twice and hold throttle open a 1/4 of the way open, turn the key and varoom.  Then you just pump a little as its running for that added squirt of gas.  Once it holds idle a bit, your ready to go. 

I was under the impression that dual carbs do not need a choke. I have started my car in 20F. After two months of sitting, It takes a little patience but once it starts it runs fine. With an electric fuel pump it is wise to turn on the ignition for a few seconds before you turn it over. Fuel in the float chamber probably evaporates after a few weeks. 

majorkahuna posted:

I was under the impression that dual carbs do not need a choke. I have started my car in 20F. After two months of sitting, It takes a little patience but once it starts it runs fine. With an electric fuel pump it is wise to turn on the ignition for a few seconds before you turn it over. Fuel in the float chamber probably evaporates after a few weeks. 

Right on.  That's the way to do it..

Major;

For those of us without electric fuel pumps, in colder weather should we "pump" the accelerator, prior to turning it over?

A

If the engine isn't turning a mechanical fuel pump isn't pumping. 

Ah yes!

If the car has been sitting a while I spray a little starting fluid into each air cleaner -saves the battery and starts right up.  Have to play with the accelerator a minute or two to get it to idle smoothly.

Joel

I had a mechanical fuel pump but when it failed I put in a rotary electric fuel pump.  I should mention that once I had that in I wondered why I had not done it earlier as it was just so much easier.  A real worthwhile upgrade for any ACooled unit.  

I am in NY too and have dual dells on my car with a mechanical pump. It is an absolute PITA to get it started if it sits for a week or if it is cold. Pumping and cranking 6 to 10 times will eventually get it going but that is putting too much strain on the starter. I've used starting fluid but have been warned not to use it by several folks. I bought a rotary and its sitting on my bench awaiting an installation been on the bench 9 months now. Lol

MangoSmoothie.ca posted:

what kind of carbs?  stock 1600 has a single 34-pict 3 (with an electric choke).  i'm guessing kads?

Not sure what "single 34-pic 3" means. Please explain. 

34 pict 3 is a carburetor made by Solex. Also made by Empi.

Here's an article about that carburetor:

 http://www.decrepitoldfool.com/index.html@p=600.html (I'm not sure why when you click this link it takes you to a different page. Just add the  @p=600.html  to the end of the page that opens and you'll get sent to the right page)

What's the warning on starting fluid?

edsnova posted:

What's the warning on starting fluid?

Be careful, it's flammable. LOL

I think some folks, look at starting fluid, to be a band aid fix, that doesn't address the real issue(s)??

Art

from experience ($) dont use starting fluid in a diesel,,,anyone running a TDI in speedy?:}

Ring and piston damage. Too big an explosion. I was told just squirt gas down there rather than spray the ether.  

Get a new Rotary pump, and save yourself MANY headaches, possible explosions etc etc.  

Robert M posted:

34 pict 3 is a carburetor made by Solex. Also made by Empi.

Here's an article about that carburetor:

 http://www.decrepitoldfool.com/index.html@p=600.html (I'm not sure why when you click this link it takes you to a different page. Just add the  @p=600.html  to the end of the page that opens and you'll get sent to the right page)

Interesting article, but no info on chokes. Is it possible that these carbs were never meant to use a choke? 

Wombat, here in sunny California, I've never tried starting much below 45 degrees, but winter rain means the car does sit for a few weeks between starts sometimes.

When that happens, the gas evaporates out of the float bowls and you'll need to crank for about 10 - 15 seconds before they fill with gas again. I'm assuming, with a 2015 VS, that you have a mechanical fuel pump (like I do). If you had an electric fuel pump, you could just run it for a few seconds before cranking the engine to accomplish the same thing.

Once there is gas in the carbs, I find cold starts go better with the pedal half-way down while cranking. If I've started the car within the past few days, I also pump the throttle a few times before cranking, but that does no good if there isn't already gas in the carbs.

Once it does turn over, my engine runs very rough for the first 30 seconds or so, and then smooths out. The idle gradually climbs from about 500 to about 1000 over the next few minutes. When it's cold, it takes a good 3-4 minutes of idling for the engine to warm enough to drive.

Which is not a bad thing. Modern engines have all kinds of technologies that let you drive off immediately after a cold start without hurting anything. But welcome to the 1950's. It's best to get some heat in that motor before asking it to work.

One other thing I've discovered: it's best to tune the carbs when the engine is good and hot - after being driven for a while. And then I've found I need to set the idle when hot a little higher than I'd like - about 1100-1200 rpm - for the engine to idle reliably when it's cold.

You might try this the next time you get out for a drive and see if it doesn't help your cold starts.

Strange as it may seem, I grew up in the wierd, cross-cultured world of British (Greeves) motorcycles and VW sedans, and everything Mitch talks about is absolutely true.

But let me add, that the mechanical fuel pump on a VW air cooled engine is a travesty.  They are barely adequate for a stock or 1,776 cc engine and for anything larger than that they should be replaced by a decent rotary fuel pump offering about 3 lbs. of constant pressure.

All that said, I have a pair of choke-less, 40mm Dellorto carbs AND a CB rotary fuel pump.  I will be starting for the first time of the season in a couple of weeks and the process is just like Mitch's:  hit the key to activate the fuel pump.  Count to ten to fill the float bowls.  Then, Pump the pedal 6-8 times.  Hit Start to get it going (barely) and then Pump a few times more to keep it running.  It will be idling, roughly, at around 600-800 rpm.  That's fine.   Just give it some time and it will warm the intake manifolds naturally and the idle will speed up and smooth out after about a minute or so.  Don't be afraid to just let it run a bit and it will be fine.  It probably won't be too happy about taking off right just then, but as you pull out of the driveway it should get the message and start running right for you.  After the first start of the day it will be happy for the rest of the day.  Good luck.

Just remember not to blip the throttle too aggressively or start driving too soon or you can blow your oils seals. 

https://youtu.be/zSi-yCV-gQ4

It has not been mentioned, rotary fuel pumps are relatively inexpensive. The better ones are self regulating as well. Best of all they can not vapor lock with the piston in the up position in hot weather. This is a common problem on type on engines with mechanical pumps. It happened to me twice in the 60's when driving my VW's like they were Porsches Remember they had no temp gauge. 

The lowest CB rotary pump is 3.5#.  Isn't that too much for my Solex-Kadrons?

Yes. Too much by about double. Kadrons are happy at 1 - 1.5psi.   I have had Kadrons on many motors and never needed an electronic fuel pump. I always used the stock pump and a fuel pressure regulator. I picked up one from Low Bugget.  They have a unit that is capable of the lower pressure settings necessary for Kadrons.

Thanks

Not sure where the cutoff is price wise on self regulating rotary pumps. But if you change altitude while driving it is a nice feature to have in addition to any additional demand the carbs make make under hard acceleration. Avoiding a vapor locked fuel pump is worth the price of admission. I believe the cheaper electric piston pumps require a manual regulator.