Okay guys, I need a little advice here. I have been away from carbs for a number of years now. I rebuilt the carb on my '82 F150 5.8. I swapped the VV with a basic Autolite. Anyhow, she runs pretty well, the automatic choke is adjusted, as well as the high and curb idle. My problem is this. When I start it in the morning from a cold start... I hit the gas twice; she fires right up. Idles but then spitters a bit until I give a little gas, and then it smooths right out as expected. The truck smells really rich, almost unbearable, and sometimes if it has been sitting for a few hours, and gets restarted, I get the same rich smell, but when it is hot/warm, there are no issues. I have run the mixture screws all the way in. I came out 2 1/4 turn, and I worked it from there. I turn them in until it runs a little rough and back out about a turn. I do the same on both bottom screws. It runs like a dream idling and driving, but I cannot figure out how much more to adjust the mixture screws or if I am missing something else? Oh, from the point where she runs smoothly backing out the mixture screws, I can basically go all the way out with no change to the engine. Any advice here would be greatly appreciated. I am baffled!

 

The idle screws will have little affect if the idle speed is too high.

If you are having problems only when cold, then that would point to the choke adjustment. That is the only difference between cold operation and warm operation. You have the main choke adjustment, and you also have the choke pull-off adjustment.