Attacking a hill of that slope is inadvisable. The hill will always win and the front of the car will be damaged. Lots of things can account for what you are describing. Start by adjusting the valves and taking care of all other basic maintenence items. Check your EGR valve and maybe fix or eliminate it. You might even just have a different rear differential ratio, in which case you'll have to probably live with the slow takeoff. Torque is not the only thing to consider and you haven't really indicated whether the car runs good at high speed. More specifics about the condition of the car are needed.

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1983 CD
1958 Studebaker Packard (being resuscitated)