My son and I have been rebuilding an '86 3rd IROC - new 350, Edelbrock Carb w/ electric choke, new distributor.

Lately the Choke light has been coming on - was causes this?

 

I'm going to read to you what the owners manual says about the "choke" light:

All vehicles (except electronic fue injection vehicles) are equipped with a choke warning indicator light in the instrument cluster. The light should come on when the ignition is turned on, to provide a "blub check", but should go out after the engine is started. If the light fails to come on with the ignition turned on, it could indicate a burned out blub, a defective electric choke heater circuit or a blown instrument lamp fuse.

HAVE SYSTEM REPAIRED IF LIGHT DOES NOT COME ON DURING CHECK

If the light comes on during normal operation, the engine should be stopped and the trouble located and corrected.

NOTICE: Continuing to run the engine eith an illuminated CHOKE" light can cause unusually high exhaust system temperatures whch could result in serious damage to the vehicle.


That's all they say about it. Hoped it helped a little. Basically, I wouldn't have the car running any longer until you resolve the issue.

 

GM also used the CHOKE light for a charging system warning. Low voltage will also turn the light on. Check the choke, then the charging system, and if you find no obvious problem, do a search on this topic here. The CHOKE light circuit is a little complex, and there has been a decent amount of posts on it.

 

this is correct