More Torque Please

Good morning all. Newbie here but hopefully in the right place for some good opinions. Just purchased a sweet 69 coupe 4 speed with a 383. Wanted a 440 but the budget said no LOL.
Anyway been tinkering just a little but need some opinions. When it's cold you have to pump this thing forever to get it to start and then you must maintain around 2k rpm to keep it alive.
Runs pretty good when warm but not like I think it should. I had a 440 6 pack 40 years ago with an auto and 4:56 gears. It ran like a scalded dog. Just feel like the 383 should be a little better than it is.
I don't drag race but sure do like to go from light to light.
Started doing some research and all I can find out from past owners is it was a mildly built motor, 3;55 gears, and does have headers. Here is where I get a little confused. Not sure of carburetor size but it does have a single plane Torker Intake.
I always thought a single plane was more for top end instead of low end. Just wondering would a Edelbrock Performer intake with say a 750 DP give me more of what I would really like? More Torque and possibly a little quicker than it is now?

Sounds like the choke is not working or you don’t have one on the carb. I don’t have one on mine and I have to do the same when it’s cold.
Welcome back to molars.

Does it have the original Carter carb on it? That's what I have on my car and if it sits for more then a few days it will evaporate all the gas in the bowls which then means it will crank for a while to refill the bowls. It then starts fine for that day. It's a problem only after sitting.