The Escorts (and Cortinas) came with the water choke, hence Team's original question. the 120Y's in Australia never came out with an auto choke, it was always manual (although I'll stand corrected on that one).

Consequently, when we replace the Hitachi with a Weber, we have to decide to go with either retaining the manual setup or modify to suit the water choke. Being as most Escort/ Cortina Webers had the water choke, it comes down to trying to locate a manual choke assembly. Not the easiest task... but if anyone has one lying around...

Yes, you can get one at the parts store, or from another car.

When buying used, make sure that the spring still have some tension to it. I hear that Escorts and other aussie cars have the Holley G180, if that has an electric choke, it should work. Just measure the diameter of the water choke, and get an electric choke the same size.

with every one plugging the electric choke is it available in kit form from an auto parts store or is it something i get from another car

As usual, ddgonzal is right on the money. The electric choke is probably the best option of all. Why burden oneself with an additional item of workload when some clever engineer has come up with the wonderfull, self regulating, fully automatic, electric choke.
Why have a dog,... then bark yourself.

One wire, & it's done. The original setup, in Datsuns at least, was wired to an altenator circuit so that the heating element did not become energised untill the engine was running. Check an appropriate workshop manual for correct wiring.
This prevented the choke from opening if someone left the ignition on without starting the engine. I'm sure there are other reasons too.
Don't forget, they are adjustable too, so you can fine tune them for your climate & personal tastes.

Mmmmmm,... electric choke. Clever bu*gers those engineers.

cheers for the help, hopefully get onto that this weekend!

My opinion is that the electric choke is the best option:
1. It's automatic
2. It's only one wire (whereas the water choke is two hoses)

However, a lot of folks prefer the manual choke.

You should keep the water choke mechanism stock. It's designed to work a certain way, I imagine the restriction is important to its operation.

so the water choke is the better option?

with the manifold do you need to keep the bit in the middle or can you cut that out?
does it restrict flow?

Being as it is for a 120Y and given they all came out with manual chokes in Australia, I can see Team's wanting to keep it OEM. I'm a little that way as well... any ideas on scrounging a manual one anyone ?

Forget the manual choke, unless you really prefer it.

- I think anb008 is probably right. Since heat rises, just tap into the heater hose.

- You can fit an electric choke on the DGAV (thus making it an DGEV). It's a standard size, the Nissan choke might even fit. Just wire the choke to IGN (12V).

The simplest way to tap into the cooling system would be to tap into the heater hose that runs directly under the carby. Probably brass reticulation fittings would work best.

But If anyone out there can help with manual chokes, let me know too !!