1982 1.5 GL bad starter when cold

My 1.5 GL cabrio is an absolute pig to start when cold.
i will pull the choke fully out and turn it over, she needs some revs but will fire. however i need to keep my foot on the accelerator otherwise itll cut out, i have this for a few minutes until warmed up. for a few minutes after that the revs are quite irratic and a few blips of the throttle can even it out eventually.

the car has not been driven for a few years but has had fresh fuel, oil, filters and battery.

from what i can gather it shouldnt have a manual choke but it does.

i plan on getting her on the road by summer and would like to be able to just turn the key and go without looking like my cars on its last legs every time i get in.

once its up to temp it fires up again no issues and idles fine, sounds good and i believe would drive round the world and back. just hate the thing when its cold.

what can i do?cf_emoticons__BangHead:

does the hedgehog manifold heater work? if you leave the IND light on for a minute before you turn her over the mani will be nice and hot, and should make cold starts a lot more bearable.

 is it a manual choke thats been adapted for your pierburg? or do you have a weber?

when did you last check the CO and timing?

as far as i know its a pierburg, whats the IND light? should i leave it on ignition like a diesel for a bit?? the CO and timing could be way out, last tax disc was 2009 or 10 so its stood for a while, been in my garage 2 years  

You know the battery warning light that light up on your dashboard?  Thats part of the IND circuit, and leaving the ignition lights on for a minute before you turn it over, like you would with a diesel, heats the manifold and helps cold starts..

 if you have time, get your local garage (or mechanic mate, iof oyu have one) to check and set the CO, idle and spark timing. When you know 100% these are correct we can start to look at other stuff like Vac. lines, fuel pump etc etc etc..

cheers

nick thats great, seems to sort of do the trick.
i need to get the electrics sorted by an auto electrician and get a mechanic to look over everything asap ready for an mot so hopefully it'll be ok, suppose driving a 31 year old car comes at a cost and i shouldnt expect it to be like our modern cars. i think i forget that sometimes