stupid newbie sbc choke question

[Chunkstyle]

hi guys --

i'm pretty new here, and was wondering if anyone could please offer some advice on some trouble i'm having with my car being kinda difficult to start when cold or not used recently. it's a 1969 corvette, with a 350, that i've owned for about 7 years or so. not the original engine, and it's got an aftermarket carb (carter afb) and intake (edelbrock). the guy i got it from mentioned some trick about getting it to fire up, that i stupidly forgot. when i got it from him -- an out of state ebay transaction -- i was so psyched about picking it up, and nervous about driving long-distance back home with unexpectedly sketchy brakes (it needed a new master cylinder right after i bought it), that i didn't pay the attention i should've to his advice. the trick had to do with pushing the gas pedal once or twice before you crank it, or while cranking it, or something along those lines. some secret gas pedal ritual.

no matter what i do, it starts pretty hard, which seems rough on the battery.

one big thing i'm wondering is if this carb even has a choke at all. don't know a whole lot about carbs. there doesn't seem to be an electrical coil on any of the pivot rods, and nothing that looks like a manual choke nor an exhaust-heated one, at least to my inexperienced eye. can you please take a look at these pics of the carb & let me know if there even is a choke on this? i don't know how to tell the difference between throttle butterfly plates and the choke plate.

driver's side, from front


driver's side, from rear


passenger side, from front


passenger side, from rear


any tips on proper choke use?

thank you for any info / advice anyone could offer!

drew joseph

 

[zora]

The choke blade is on the top of the front half of the carburetor. Problem is when you look at the passenger side of the carburetor I see 4 empty holes in mounting pads where I believe the choke mechanism should be located. So you either have a manual choke carburetor or someone removed the electric choke. Would need to know the model number of the carburetor to be sure. Would imagine you would have to pump this thing a number of times to get it started before turning the key. The link below shows a Carter with an electric choke.

http://www.allcarbs.com/tech.php?art=17

 

[Chuzz]

I'm looking at those carburetor springs and they don't look right to me either. I'm sure zora's right about the choke not being connected properly. Most AFB's should start right up after hitting the gas pedal a couple of time to close the choke.