408 ignition curver advice

You're over thinking this.
Your problem is your Carb.
Despite being a 408, an 850 is too much Carb.
And your sluggishness is typical of too much carb.
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You would be outright amazed at the pickup in your car once you switch to a healthy 750 cfm.
You may even pick up on the top end.
What do you base this on? Many of us with 408's have found quite the opposite, in fact, mine pics up considerably with a 950 over an 850. I'm not looking to start an argument. I just wonder if this is your opinion, or do you have empirical data to support this?