Carb adapting question on 256 Y-block... mystery tube.

This may seem like numbskull question for some... but I finally had it with my old teapot carb on my 256 Y-block (car is a '54 Merc), and I'm swapping out for a Holley 390.

I tracked down an adapter and after some work... got it to fit all up. Then I realize that there is this tube that comes from the manifold and up through the thepot carb. Can someone tell me what this copper tube is, what's it's purpose, etc? (arrows pointing to the tube in the pics below)

Seems like it had something to do with the choke mechanism?

Whatever it is, I need to do something with it (cut and cap it?) and I need to get it pretty close to the manifold so the throttle can rotate.

Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

~Steve

 

that's the fresh air intake for the choke heat tube, if I'm not mistaken.

you can safely cap it off at the manifold if you don't need to use the automatic choke mechanism that's on the manifold. Otherwise route it to inside the air cleaner.

 

Thanks for the quick reply, squirrel. I figured as much, but I wanted to make sure.

Thanks again!

~Steve