You can remove that rod and the choke will still open and close, (Try it! You'll be surprised.) independent of the throttle position.
I wouldn't be surprised but I think you will be when you look further into the automatic features of these units.
General Operation is described here at the
Home Town Buick site.
What is most intriguing about Cold and Warm Operation is the interplay between the 'position' of fast idle set screw, the throttle control rod, the bi-metal choke spring and the vacuum piston.
The choke unload feature also depends on the choke control rod. So I don't think I can just remove it.
