Carb choice for a mutt motor.

Airmonger said

I'm leaning towards timing as well. The PO gifted some upgrades after the sale. Mopar electronic distributor, new in box. Along with a disc brake kit for the front. That's going to be another box of surprises, I'm sure.
I'm having fun with this, but it has a lot that needs to be "undone". Only the finest hillbilly engineering was applied to some things from all I can see.

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It actually looks pretty nicely done. Only things that stand out in the photo are the battery cables showing some bare copper, and that is not exactly uncommon.

tripple on the suggestions above regarding the throttle cable and timing.
Spend any money you have avail on a timing light, tach, and timing tape. With any replacement distributor, the timing curve will be a mystery until you measure and plot it. If its a somewhat retarded compared to what it wants, the engine will respond to throttle input smooth but slow. The original 4 bbl 273 advance, and the DC/MP small block distributor advance are right in the ballpark.

Once that's done, then you can work on tuning that carb jetting/rod combo. Enrichment and jetting then can be tuned at the track. All for the cost of tools, some fuel and your time, plus whatever your local dragrstrip charges for T&T entry.