h.ot start assist?

Yeh that's what I thought, so why does this sucker make such a big difference on the idle? Moving it changed my life, I'm almost afraid to get in the car now, it's running so good.

That thing you just adjusted works like this.

In the back of the waterpump there is this bit fat temperature switch.

The temperature switch is off below 60degC (not F), and on above.

When it is on it causes the choke to be pulled back in, ie automatically turns the choke off when it isn't nessessary.

It also causes the hot start assist motor to pull the throttle open when the engine is warm, and you are trying to crank the motor. If you remove this linkage you might notice you need to use a touch of throttle to get the car to start hot.

The reason your car was idling high was because the hot start assist was holding the throttle open because it was poorly adjusted, much the same as the throttle cable could. Because it pulls on much the same linkage.