hesitating when cold

[TulsaSpider]

Well I finally got ahold of a timing light the other day and set it at 10BTDC. (I had recently changed the timing belt) I drove it home and I noticed that the idle had gone down to where it didn't even register on the tach so I adjusted it up to about 800, the car was plenty warm, fine, no problem, I adjusted the mixture as well, took it for a spin and it's running better than ever! Ok so here's the thing, now when it's cold it idles low, is prone to "lurching" or trying to die from taking off from a stop. It has also backfired through the carb a couple of times when this is going on. When it warms up no issues, runs fantastic and the idle comes back up. It has never had this problem before. Things I am going to do, adjust choke, adjust fast idle adjustment which I am a bit foggy on frankly, what exactly does this do? I am also thinking about getting a preheater hose for the exaust-air cleaner connection, although I want to ditch the stock air cleaner soon. How much does this preheater hose help in the winter guys? Oh, before you ask the idle stop solenoid does click. Thanks for the suggestions in advance! I am used to a Holly DP with manual choke and very little adjustments so this is all a learning curve.
This carb is a 32 ADFA

Clark

[mbouse]

i have the same cold start issues on both my spiders.

i generally allow the car to idle in the drive before leaving. IMO, they just don't like running cold. givem 3 minutes and the issue is non-existant.

[TulsaSpider]

Mine lasts more than 3 minutes maybe 15 by then I am at work! I suppose it's comforting to know this is not uncommon I suppose... That won't stop me from going and tinkering!!

[So Cal Mark]

many of the water heated chokes are now worn out, hence my advice to replace carbs with the new electric choke versions.
But, to adjust yours properly the choke plate should be lightly closed at about 70 degrees F. The fast idle speed should be 1200-1300 rpm. One problem is the choke pull off diaphragm; virtually all of them have failed by now. That device opens the choke on initial start up and opens the choke enough for the car to run until the water begins to heat the choke assy.
Since most of the choke pull off diaphragms have failed, most owners adjust the choke so it doesn't close tightly. That way the engine can run without overchoking until it warms up. That creates a lean situation, and backfires through the intake occur duing a lean mixture.

[TulsaSpider]

Mark, my choke seems to be in good shape. The fast idle.. how does this work? only affects idle when cold?? so how is this adjusted? Is the choke pull off diaphragm available separately? What about the heat-up hose does that help? I want to head off any hard starting problems before it starts getting cold!
As always your help is well appreciated!