Why do i see comments not to use the choke on carb'd cars?

No idea. I’ve heard this lots and I think it’s rubbish. With clean plugs my GTS starts great using the choke; keep it on for a couple of minutes and once the engine warms a little turn it off. Pumping the accelerator as advised just seems to foul the plugs and mean you have to clean them sooner

 

The "reason" is that the choke spools inside the DCNF carb get opened mechanically by the cable mechanism (physically dragging them open), but, when you return the cable lever mechanism to the closed position, the choke spools may hang-up in their bores and not fully close (because they are closed by a return spring, not by the cable mechanism). It got more troublesome when they introduced cats on the US '78-'79 models -- have a choke spool hang-up on a US '73-'77 308 = you foul a plug; have a choke spool hang-up on a cat-equipped US '78-'79 308 = carbeque.

 

A friend of mine has a 365 gtc4, apparently its a right art to start it up- all to do with the carbs and throttle use

 

I figured it was because the choke wire linkage is iffy at best. I thought about leaving it off when I re-installed the carbs, but included it for the sake of completeness.

 

Didn't say that it was a good practice or a bad practice -- just the reason where that rule-of-thumb originated (and a sliding metal-on-metal situation "washed" by gasoline isn't exactly ideal). Certainly, being catless is far less risk, and wish we had some objective data for how often a choke spool hangs up if used regularly rather than just hearsay

 

It would SEEM logical that the more frequently it is used, the less likely it would hang up. The worst thing for any moving part is for it not to move. But I have never had a Weber-carbed car so I can only speculate.

 

No. The wire linkage for the chokes is much less robust than the normal throttle linkage.

After understanding the linkage on my carbs, I will never use the chokes. Ever.

 

Not using the choke has been a 308 startup word-of-mouth SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for decades, pressurize the system & pump, don't use the choke level... I was first told this in the mid-1980's. My cars start fine with our without the choke lever. There are quite a few posts on the topic (a couple below) Bottom line, you typically do not need to choke, but if your choke cable system and carbs are in proper working order and not hanging up, no problem to use for initial/early start. But if there's an issue with your choke/cabling system... then stay away:

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/choke-on-early-308-carbd-cars.450415/
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/problem-starting-carbed-308.253681/

 

when someone rebuilt my GT4 previously the choke cable was left off

 

60,000 miles continually using the choke for every start. No problems.

 

It all goes back to carbs and why F1 dumped them about 50 years ago

 

Well it also is about the choke or enrichment mechanism chosen by the carb maker. Obviously some are more robust than others. If they are more robust, they are more expensive. We all need to remember that Enzo didn't care anything about Ferrari street cars...

 

When I first got my carbed 308 I was experimenting starting the car using a choke and without. Then, I realized the choke was disconnected all together by the previous owner, lol. No wonder it made no difference.

I left it as is and just started the car by pumping the gas a couple times. During my last major the mechanic reconnected the choke again to factory spec, but I still never use it.