Hey guys. This is my first time posting here so, please, bear with me.

I have a question about the way my choke rod is connecting to the choke lever. But first a little background info.

My name is Dan and I've owned my truck for about a year now. I've fallen in love with her and the old Slant Six as well. She used to be my father's but he never really did any maintenance to her so I've been doing a lot of little things here and there to ensure the old girl keeps running. With only 112k on the engine and truck, you'd swear she was a daily beater with over 200k miles. Oxidized paint, rusted quarter panels, bent front bumper rear main leak, cracked radiator, two leaking freeze plugs, and a misfire I cant seem to nail down.

Its a red 1983 D150 Custom Sweptline, which my family has lovingly named BART (Big Ass Red Truck). It originally had a feedback carb, I couldn't tell you which one, but it was swapped out later for a carter BBD. The old Electronic Spark Control computer has been eighty-sixed and I did an HEI upgrade.

Well ever since the truck has been in the family over the span of 8 years, the choke has never functioned. I took off the choke thermostat and checked it out but it seems to be stretched out far beyond the point of being useful. The choke lever seems to move freely with next to no force at all. Today I picked up a NOS choke thermostat from a local carb shop and installed it. Well, I ran into a problem. I have to press down hard on the choke rod in order for it to hook into the choke lever.

Well, now the choke plate seems to "lock" or stick into three different places. First is completely closed, second is 80% closed, and third is fully open. However, between fully closed and 80% closed it will slide with light force applied, meaning the choke pull-off can open the choke from fully closed to 80% closed. However, after that point it takes considerable force to move the choke from the 80% point. It also doesn't set itself when its cold outside.

So, it seems to me that the rod is binding up. Especially with having to literally shove the rod down, making the coil contract, in order for it to hook-up properly.

Now, I did a little searching and the only thing I can think of is the carb gasket (it has a really thick gasket on already) might need to be thicker. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks for being patient and reading my long winded post.

I believe you have a 318 BBD.You need the part the choke hooks to off a slant six BBD and install it on the 318 BBD.

Hopefully this makes sense.

That would make sense. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any junkyards with a slant six 2bbl. The only one I did find with one crushed the truck the day after I found it. So I guess I have to keep an eye on eBay for a used carb.

Another question. I've not been able to properly ID the carb. I know the BBD's were supposed to have some tag that had a stamped ID number but is there any other place I can check for an ID number? I used a kit for a 79 Aspen when I rebuilt the carb but the accelerator pump doesn't give a full shot. It stops short at 3/4 throttle.

Welcome on the board. You may want to get the books described in this thread.

You will probably also want to order one of the excellent electric choke kits.

And yeah, you'll want to find a slant-6 choke lever for your carb. If you can't find one locally, put an ad in the "Parts Wanted" section of the forum. I'm sure somebody has a parts carb they can help you out from.

There were several different variants of the accelerator pump plunger on the BBD, so the old and the new have to match up in terms of length and actuator slot location. This can be tricky if the carb number tag is missing! Can you show us some good, clear pictures of the carb you're working with?

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks for the welcome Dan.

Ill put up a few pictures tomorrow, its a little too dark out right now. But from the pictures I've been digging up from the internet, I'm pretty convinced I don't have the V8 BBD.

When the swap occurred several years ago (the carb sucked up a few pieces of charcoal) my father took the truck to a local carb shop (not the same one I went to) and the guy had a rebuilt BBD laying around that he sold him. Perhaps the choke lever piece is the only thing that is wrong. He might have just pieced it together from other donor carbs.

Review this article for more info on the choke "eyelet" difference between the V8 and SL6 BBD
http://www.slantsix.org/articles/supersix/article.htm

DD

Unfortunately I cant get a clear picture of the carb and I do apologize for the image quality. My fiance's camera is junk, but maybe you can still make out the carb. Ill get my hands on a different camera and try again tomorrow.

Looks like you have the slant-6 style choke lever already.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.