That 73 intake has constant EGR ports in the floor. If they are not clogged, they should be closed off. Your TQ base is a 73 340 Manual transmission carb, hopefully the rest of the carb is also. I always ran an Auto carb on an Auto trans, probably no big deal, but they are different. You should get "heavy" out of your mind. If the car is faster and runs better, what does an extra 20 lb matter except for the one time you lay it on the engine. What choke are you running? How in the world can a TQ dissapoint on the top end? When those secondaries open up, it is exhilarating to say the least. Do you have the secondary spring adjusting tool? Are the secondaries opening? Are you using valve springs matched for your camshaft? Most people have no clue about carbs, a good early TQ is still probably the best production carb ever made. Followed by a Q-Jet, but it takes more work to fix them. Another carb most people will tell you are junk. How do those "Stock" and "Super Stock" class cars run so fast with those junk carbs?