Like Frank says, that crazy piece of bent wire is just to open the choke if the engine was running cold/nor warmed up and you opened up the throttle…
It looks like your choke solenoid is not connected the choke linkage though, so the electric choke will not work at all like this. You can still close the choke using the manual choke control though, which is the pointy end of that linkage pictured. Like Frank says, that manual choke has three positions:
OFF: The choke will always be off regardless of whether the electric choke is activated or not…
Auto: The choke will be controlled by the electric choke solenoid/choke switch/warm-up circuit
ON: The choke will always be ON regardless of whether the electric choke is activate or not….
Like Frank says, the electric choke solenoid had two circuits, you will notice that it has two purple leads coming out of it. One of the circuits is controlled by the key switch/choke toggle. When activated, the choke will be closed fully for cold starting.
The other circuit is meant to help the engine warm up by holding the choke just partially closed while it is cold and warming up….This circuit is live anytime the key switch is in the on position, but is controlled by a second temp switch located on the exhaust manifold. This temp switch is closed when the engine is closed allowing the warm up choke circuit to activate helping the engine warm up after initial cold start with full choke. Once the engine warms up a bit, say 90 degrees F, the second temp switch opens cancelling the warm up circuit. A simple way to know if this circuit is working/active is to remove the air box on a cold engine with the key switch off, the chokes should be wide open (manual control in the auto position). Now, just turn the key to the “on” position, the chokes should close slightly (not fully). if the circuit is active.
Needless to say, on your engine, the circuit is not going to work because the choke solenoid is NOT connected to the choke linkage.
Like Frank says, most techs usually just wired both circuits of the choke solenoid to the electric choke terminal of the terminal board to eliminate this “warm up circuit”. Post of picture of your choke solenoid so we know how if the plunger is missing, there should be a spring inside the solenoid also. Original solenoid plunger linkages were spring loaded, kind of threaded onto the plunger. Later models used a solid link that hooked through a hole in the plunger. You will see the plunger in this link:
http://www.marineengine.com/parts/johnson-evinrude-parts.php?year=1975&hp=50&model=50572B&manufacturer=Evinrude§ion=Intake+Manifold
So, I guess what I am saying is that your linkage looks correct, but the choke solenoid plunger linkage is missing….
