Quadrajet air valve lockout lever problem

[Erik]

I have a '74 C20 with a QJ 4MV that appears to be from '75 (#7045213). I got it about six months ago and it runs great, except for being cranky with a cold start. Nothing terrible - just have to pump the gas a few times after it starts to keep from stalling and then let it sit a few minutes before driving. I suspected the choke wasn't closing, and I finally got around to looking into it. (I've never worked on a carb before and it's a little intimidating.) Sure enough, mud daubers had built a couple nests around the fast idle cam and linkage, and that had gummed it up. The choke seems to be working now (though dialing in the fast idle is another story).

When poking around and trying to learn about this carb, I noticed that the air valves from the secondaries won't open. They are being held shut by the air valve lockout lever. When the choke opens up it is supposed to lift the lever and "unlock" the secondary air valves, but it's not doing that. (I can move the lever by hand and open the valves just fine.) It appears the choke rod isn't going high enough - even when the choke is fully open - to lift the lever. (See photo.) I tried bending the tang on the lever down far enough so it can be lifted by the choke rod, but it isn't working and I'm afraid of breaking the lever. Any ideas what's going on here?

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[Erik]

I may have figured it out sitting here thinking at my kid’s swim lesson. I looked down in there earlier and noticed that the bottom of the choke rod is inserted into the middle hole of the intermediate lever down there. If I move it to the top hole, I bet it gives me more height with the rod and lifts the lever. Gonna try it tomorrow.