It's a 383. I've never raced this and I don't drive it hard at all. It's a nice clean cruiser, something to take to shows.
It's just that when I most recently took it out for a drive I kept asking myself "what if it had better pickup, what if I tightened up the steering, etc". I've never even taken off the heads the whole time I've had the car.
Shouldn't need to.
As far as what you're asking. Better, quicker throttle response, could just be a matter of some tuning. Tuning can take two forms, and in this instance both forms apply.
The first is tuning to factory. Mostly making sure its got the carb and timing to factory specs along with the matching emissions equipment.
The second form more applies to hot rodding, but can be done with a stock baseline as well. That is tuning (adjusting) for best performance.
It might just take some adjustment of the timing, and maybe some minor tuning of the carb, to change how it feels.
My suggestion is to establish current baseline. Check the initial timing and advance. See if there is any anti-smog equipment that might cause a delay either because it is or is not hooked up. Check manifold vacuum for indicaitons of problems. That would be the starting point. Then a compression check and leakdown if you want a better picture of the engine condition.
