Why does my car feel sluggish?

16 initial is ok but you need to weld the advance slots up a bit to get total down to 36-38 then swap some springs around to get it all in around 2500rpms.

Have a friend hold the gas to the floor (motor off) then see if its opening the throttle blades all the way buy moving the lever back by hand.

Is your kickdown rods from a 4bbl car ?