1975 1.8 on twin carbs running poorly Options

[dt4]

My car is now registered over in the UK so I can enjoy it at long last, I took it out today for the first time other than the short drive to the MOT centre last month

It drove OK to a point but I noticed it was very slow to respond once in 4th gear, it felt very flat and not at all keen to pick up speed
If I shifted from 3rd to 4th at around 30mph / 3500rpm it was sluggish and a just over 30mph in 4th it felt like it was in the wrong gear and needed to down shift back to 3rd

on the hills it soon ran out of grunt and I was having to down shift from 4th to 3rd and even 2nd to get it to rev again and build speed
Setting off on a hill I had to really increase revs in 1st before shifting into 2nd otherwise it would bog down and feel like it was stalling

thoughts:
fuel?
timing?
other?

thank you
David

[rhodyguy]

What does the inside of the distr cap look like? That green tinge on the outside looks like pollen. Ancient. The spark plug wires are run pretty helter skelter. everything looks old. Replace dispossables. That + lead for the starter should not run across the top of the engine. The distr needs to be cleaned and weights oiled. Consider the process a comprehensive tuneup. Then approach the carbs.

Does this car have heat exchangers or headers? Atleast one Jtube is missing. A small box of other items are missing too.

Was this car shipped from a west coast port?

[dt4]

What does the inside of the distr cap look like? That green tinge on the outside looks like pollen. Ancient. The spark plug wires are run pretty helter skelter. everything looks old. Replace dispossables. That + lead for the starter should not run across the top of the engine. The distr needs to be cleaned and weights oiled. Consider the process a comprehensive tuneup. Then approach the carbs.

Does this car have heat exchangers or headers? Atleast one Jtube is missing. A small box of other items are missing too.

Was this car shipped from a west coast port?

the inside of the dizzy cap looks ok, the contacts have wear but not worn out
the green tinge is dust from the sanding process when i was prepping the body work, it gets everywhere even through covers
I can reroute the starter cable, is there a proper route for it
I will look for a guide on how to remove and clean the distributor, I dont see and obvious way of unbolting
yest it came from the west coast
It has heat exchangers but I dont have the rest of the pipework or the heater motor, I do have the flap boxes though
thank you