At first o thought the cable was going bad until I went to replace it. Now I've realized that the choke barely rotated, with force. What could be the issue. I've soaked with pb blaster a few times.
Surely you jest, that whole thing is rusted up. Look over to the right in the first pic, that shaft is solid rust going into the last carb. You'll be lucky if those top bar screws come out without trashing the carb body.