3x2 with Holley 94s FE fuel pump-
cold start 2 pumps and a little throttle till it warms in a minute or 2.
Hot start after being driven for a while-the 94s are prone to a little bit of boiling/leak down (even with spacers) on hot days especially with modern fuels. I turn the ignition for 3 seconds just to clear the cylinders, then press the gas slowly (don't want the accel pump) just open the throttle plates. Crank and starts up.
Temperature matters a lot for my truck as it loves 40-80 degrees outside of that it can be a little finicky.

I have starting instructions printed on the top of the visor for my wife as she did not grow up with carbs on her cars.

My brother had a 78 LTD wagon we called the "anti-Christ" if the temperature even threatened <40*. That was a whole different animal.

But as mentioned tuning and equipment have a lot to do with it.
The 3x2 is a much different animal than a more modern carb-way more prone to stick needles, floats, etc-etc than anything else I've ever dealt with.

Mike Rizzo

1963 F100 "Rudy"

Daniel Island, SC

The way I start mine depends on the length of time since it was last driven, and the season of the year.

In the hot summer months, I can usually just bump the starter and it is running.
In the cooler fall and spring months, It usually requires 1 pump then it starts on a bump of the starter.
In the winter, it can require 2 or more pumps, depending just how cold it is.  Then it starts on a bump.

If I haven't driven it in a week or more, I usually turn the ignition on and listen for a change in the pitch of the fuel pump (electric), indicating that the bowls are full and the needles have closed.  From there, it can take 2 or three pumps to get a sufficient squirt from the accelerator pump.  Then I follow my procedure for the time of year.

I do not use the choke, even on the coldest of days and it starts right up.  I do hold the gas open a bit to idle it higher but usually after 30s to 1m, it will idle on its own.  In the warmer months, that is usually not necessary.  This "old" tech actually starts faster than my "modern" fuel injected car.  Driveability from a cold start is a little better with the fi.  Not by a lot, though, considering the performance differences of the engines and the innate behavior of a higher performing engine like the one in the truck.  The technology on my truck is not purely 50s and 60s.  It probably averages out to somewhere in the late 70s.  So I'm sure some of the more modern stuff helps.



Lawrenceville, GA

When my 55 had the original motor I would crank the motor until the oil light would go out and then pump the gas pedal a few times if it had sat longer then a couple days,the choke was made to stay open so I did not have it to help out when cold and let it run a couple minutes before driving.


Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio

2 pumps and vrooom, but every car is different. It'll become habit, i'm 31, and ive never owned a fuel injected or computerized car so i feel a little more comfortable with it, but i find i pump everything i touch.  If there are still issues and stuff isnt really built or butchered you may need to look at carb stuff.

Also remember if you arent regularly driving stuff sometimes carbs leak and will drain a bowl and require a lot of cranking, sometimes even overnight. In this case sometimes with a couple pumps it will fire and immediately die(the accelerator pump shoots it's load, then it doesnt have anything left), then require 15 or 20 seconds of cranking to fill the bowl back up. Ive seen this happen a few times with carbs that have accelerator pump diaphragms on the bottom of the bowl like holleys, when they get a pinhole they will leak drain an entire carburetor overnight. Depending on design and leak location it can even be inside the engine and you wont see any gas staining

Also if it doesnt idle smooth when cold(like a malfunctioning or broken choke) you may want to keep the petal pressed down a little.

The basic math here is that when cold and with low vacuum the fuel doesnt turn into a vapor as easy so you pump to add extra fuel. The accelorator pump is a tiny pump that squirts each time you put your foot into it. Similarly the real reason for the accelerator pump is when you stomp the gas you drop the vacuum so far that it doesnt atomize fuel enough and it leans out. On a lot of carbs you can actually see the accelerator pump do it's thing when the air cleaner is off

Not to argue with any of the above. My bird always wanted a couple half pumps, pull choke full, crank and start. Get choke half way in, run throttle a little bit and it would settle down. Still needed a bit of choke cable, but what that was wasn't so much "choke" as keeping it on the fast idle cam.

Depending on the car and choke set up. Most chokes have a vacuum pull off, that opens a closed choke butterfly when the engine starts and vacuum comes up. The interaction between that and the fast idle cam, and the fast idle screw has a lot to do with both starting and running on the choke. On automatic chokes, resetting them in the spring and fall was common. New, maybe they worked perfect, but I never owned one that did. That's why I preferred a manual choke. The manual for the car, if stock, or the carb if aftermarket is a good start. You need to read it until you understand it, and the interactions, then make the changes according to the manual. I've owned many Holley's, Carter AFB's, and Quadrajets. I always get the manual out, just to be sure.

Reading the manual, and learning how it's all supposed to work, will help you adjust your technique. I'm not trying to be a smart a-- here, my son is your age. I was running the choke by hand on Dad's boats when I was maybe 10 years old. What he was yelling eventually sunk in.

My cars are parked inside, and not necessarily driven every day. I always open the hood and let the heat out. Less chance of the carb boiling dry, and having to crank fuel up to it on the next start.

Big cams, blower motors, chokes milled off, we won't go there.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

Cold, pull choke, start, push choke half in for a minute then all in. Warm, turn key and start.

I also feel like I should rephrase my point. I'm not asking for the objectively correct way to start an old car, I know that's impossible. I merely was interested in how you guys start yours, give me some starting tricks to try.

Mmmm.Mitzi is a For domestic so I don't have the advantage of a manual choke. I've got one of those original temperature activated automatic choke with the internal spring, could be causing me problems if it's not working right when cold.

She starts right up when hot. It's just cold stops can take a bit sometimes, like two or three 5 drive cranks. Shell keep catching, you know where the crank speeds up like she's about to start but doesn't.

My '55 has the manual choke (2 barrel 272). 

If it's been sitting for more than 2 or 3 days it takes about 6-8 seconds for the fuel to reach the carburetor.  So there's some cranking before it kicks.

For mine, I pull the choke all the way out and never touch the accelerator.  It kicks and then starts almost immediately.  Then I immediately jam the choke in most of the way and then give it a little gas to keep it going.  You can take off in about 20 seconds but don't forget to push the choke in the rest of the way about a minute or two later.  If you don't your fuel economy will drop drastically.

Mine too starts when warm with just a turn of the key with no gas pedal.

Every car has it's own sweet spot.  You really just have to try different things and eventually you'll find what works for your car.

My car takes one pump to the floor and it's off and running. I wouldn't keep pumping it as it could cause the engine to flood. Once my car has been started and it doesn't sit for more than a few hours all that's needed is to turn the key.

Durham Missouri