[TR] TR3 choke

[Randall]

> Just looking at my choke mechanism. I always thought that the arms that
> withdraw the jet assembly on my car were worn, as the holes that they
> pivot on are way oversize. Buy I just looked at another assembly I had
> lying around and that one also has oversize holes.
> 
> Are they supposed to be like that? It doesn't seem like the choke works
> very well.

Yes, I believe the oversize holes are deliberate.  The lost motion allows
the fast idle cam to move some distance before the jets start moving.  This
is a common feature of most carbs with manual chokes, as there is a point
during engine warmup where it doesn't need extra fuel, just some extra air
to idle smoothly.

Of course, you can have wear on top of the original hole size, but it's
usually fairly obvious.  The wear will be in only a limited area, and a
smaller radius than the original hole.

There are several odd things about the TR3 choke linkage, especially
mounting the link off to one side instead of straddling the levers.  I've
also found that replacement jets are frequently not polished, which leads to
both hard choke operation and rapid seal wear.  Oddly enough, the gland
springs are important too, I have no idea why new ones aren't included with
the rebuild kit but IMO they should be replaced as part of a major rebuild.

But when all is right, it actually seems to work pretty good, for me.  A bit
more force than butterfly type chokes typically need, but not too much.

Randall

PS, here's a photo enlarged from "Practical Hints" showing the correct link
arrangement.
http://tinyurl.com/havtx9b