Twin. Carb choke is VERY stiff

[btetley]

In assembling the twin carbs I can't believe how difficult it is to pull out the choke. I ended up making the lever longer and making a new bridge for the end of the choke cable. It's easier now though the choke comes out twice as far. It is a new cable that runs nicely in it's sheath. At least it is now manageable. Is this normal? What have you done to make the choke action manageable?

[Peter Laidler]

First things first......
Exactly what car are you talking about
how many carbs have you got
what sort of carbs?
How stiff/tiight are the chokes within the actual carb(s) WITHOUT the cable?
How tight is the choke cable when NOT attached to the carbs.

That will eliminate one or the other

[LarryLebel]

It's not normal so something must be wrong.

[btetley]

Hi, the setup is twin SU hs2 with cooper air box with standard connecting linkages which came with my 66 Riley elf. Obviously not original with the car. So each carb has both choke return spring(s) in place around the choke lever spindle- one for fast idle and the other for returning the jet back to normal position after choke. The levers themselves look the same as a standard single hs2 carb, though only the right side(looking into the engine) is connected to the cable. . Since the choke cable has to work against both sets of carburetor springs it would stand to reasonn that it would be twice as stiff as with a single carb? I rebuilt both carbs and have no reason to think hat individually each carb's choke action isn't standard.

[btetley]

How tight is the choke cable when NOT attached to the carbs.

The choke cable glides easily in it's outer cable when not connected.

[Peter Laidler]

I need to get my head around this. So here I am with my twins sat on a manifold across my lap.
Like you say, there are only TWO springs that affect the choke.
The OUTER is the coil return spring for the fast idle cam
The INNER is the coil return spring for the actual choke lever/jet. So far, so good. But these springs are handed lleft and right so there could be a problem there too - but unlikely I say

Choke cable - on my car - attached to ONE carb lever. It 'attaches' and operates the other carb by a spindle/shaft and clamps that engage the choke levers. So far so good again.

Choke cable is perfect and smooth when disconnected. So If I were you, I would loosen the choke spindle clamp on one of the carbs. This will isolate the chokes, left and right. Now it's a simple matter of operating each side with your finger to see/feel exactly WHICH side is causing the grief.

It might well be that you hae not assembled the choke lever spindle shaft and sleeve/collar correctly causing the bolt to tighten up the mechanism OR
misaligned the connecting bar between the two carb chokes.

That's how it is on mine. Isolate the stiffness, re-align and correct and that will be the end of the problem.

[Herbert]

It's really simple. You have two carbs so therefore there will be twice the amount of leverage required to pull the choke. It's always been like it. Just go to the gym more and build your muscles!

[Peter Laidler]

Yes, sort of agree Ronaldino, but even with 2x jet lever and 2x fast tickover springs to overcome, there's not a lot of load there. But I'm blowed if I can get to the bottom of it. I suspect wrong assembly somewhere. As a pm to me suggested, excess friction in one of the choke jets might be a cause.

Have a great weekend doing mini jobs!

[timmy201]

I would:
Disconnect one of the levers on the choke linkage bar and try to see how heavy one single carb is
Reconnect the first side and disconnect the other and try again to see if it’s the same effort to pull

This would at least eliminate one sticky carb

[111Robin]

I would also check that the choke shaft between both carbs has a small amount of end float. If it binds up as you tighten the carbs to the manifold it will make choke operation very difficult. I've had to file a few thou from the shafts to prevent them from locking up, usually the aftermarket ones.