General Hard starting when cold

[rasouth]

I have a '78 124 that does not like to start up when it's cold outside, (to me that's 45 to 50). It starts up and then putters out. It takes a light touch on the gas to keep it going without backfiring and quitting. I have rebuilt carb, replaced timing belt, valve shims, tune up, adjusted timing... It runs good after it warms up, it's just when cold. Any ideas on what to check?

 

[mbouse]

lots of things to check:
1. the gap of the points, both sets
2. idle solenoid, is it working?
3. choke setting. is it working...
4. idle mixture and idle speed settings

the choke is where i am leaning first. with the top off the air breather, and it is 45°F, with the engine cold and not running.. are the butterflies closed? as the engine warms up, do the butterflies slowly open?

double check to see that the two hoses supplying radiator fluid to the water choke are both connected and intact. if not, here's the source of the malfunctioning choke.