I've had exactly the same problem on my Avanti'd s2, same carb, 70 choke, 54 pilot. Only last week I purchased a 75 choke jet thinking this would cure it, however before fitting it I checked my air/fuel mixture screw, which on mine is the one toward the back of the carb (a little flush screw head, not the larger knurled throttle stop screw), and discovered it was only 1 & 1/4 turns out. Ron Moss suggests 1 & 1/2 to 2 turns out, so I set it at 1 & 1/2 and from stone cold it started 1st kick!
All I'd suggest is that you try it, seeing as it's the easiest thing to try.
There is one caveat to this however, in that it now seems harder to start when hot...................Lammies, don't you just love 'em?
