Pinto Car Club of America

I've done all the reading I can find about chokes here and haven't found the answer I'm looking for, so here goes...

I'm wanting to convert the choke on my 73 station wagon from the water choke to an electric choke like my 78 sedan has. The water choke on the car right now isn't aligned with the pin on the choke lever and the eyelet on the choke coil because of how the choke assembly sits due to the placement of the coolant hoses running to it.

First - The water choke has two coolant lines running to it, but where do they go? Can I just put a coupler between them after removing the water choke assembly and call it good? Or, is there a way to remove these lines completely so I don't have useless coolant lines sitting in the engine compartment which just add to another possible source of leakage later on?

Secondly - The carburetor is a Holley/Weber 32/36 or better known here as the 5200. I have a couple extra complete electric choke assemblies in my parts pile, I don't see any major differences between it and the original water choke. Will I run into any fitment issues between a 73 holley 5200 and a 78 holley 5200 as far as choke installation goes?

Third - Where do I get power for the electric choke once it is installed? I know on later model cars there is a wire that runs off the alternator harness to the choke, can I tap that same wire on a 73 car and run a wire to the newly installed electric choke?


I'm hoping between fixing the non-operable water choke and swapping a rebuilt valve body in the transmission, the station wagon will gain a little more get up and go, and not to mention be easier to start!

the housing that the coolant hoses attach to is separate from and can be moved independently from the 'coil' housing. 

the center bolt on the assembly can be loosened and rotated to facilitate coolant hose connections.  there is a fiber gasket between this part & the 'coil' housing.  it frequently will be necessary to remove this and replace it.

the 'coil' housing is (iirc) adjusted by loosening 3 small screws that will allow you to align/adjust the choke plate setting independant of the coolant hose orientation

Thank you SRT! I will look into that some more tomorrow before leaving to work. I drive the station wagon on the weekends only due to it's poor performance right now. It's hard to start, accelerates like a slug and doesn't like shifting into third until the motor is really warmed up or it's been driven 1/4 mile (and the transmission is recently rebuilt!).

Hopefully that will all change on Tuesday! :D

take pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!