1965 Dodge Dart 270 Wagon

Long time with no updates. I haven't been able to get as much done as I'd like since we've been dealing with some issues around the house. I have done a few things though. I'm going to post a quick list just for my own record keeping and in case anyone else is interested.

1. I can't remember if I mentioned it before, but I was leaking fuel from the fuel pump so I replaced it with a new one from the local parts store.
2. After replacing the fuel pump I was getting tons of overflow on the carburetor. I decided to rebuild the carburetor. Everything inside was pretty solid, so maybe I didn't really need to do it, but it's done now so that's that. During the rebuild I found a significant defect/grind in the edge of the float bowl casting. After asking for recommendations I got some JB Weld Steel Stik and leveled it off before reassembly. I'm very happy with how it turned out. As mentioned before the choke was completely bound up before. I got everything cleaned up and adjusted to factory spec, but no matter how much I leaned out my mixture screws I just wasn't getting enough air into the carburetor at idle. I had to adjust the vacuum pull-off to open way beyond spec before things evened out. I also had to adjust the floats a bit lower than the 1/4" I found in the carburetor manual to prevent overflow which was causing a terribly rich burn.
3. Ignition Upgrades - I ordered and installed a Pertronix Ignitor III with a matching Pertronix Flamethrower Coil. Of course this meant I needed some new spiral core plug wires so I went with Moroso Blues. So far I am happy with the setup, although if I'm honest I don't have the experience to really know any better. I also dropped in some NGK GR4 plugs while I was at it.
4. Ignition Timing - This has been the trickiest bit for me. I've checked the online diagrams for plug wire placement on the distributor and attempted to follow what I found. It didn't match the original placement from when I picked up the car which seemed odd. No dice. When I went that route I couldn't get the engine to fire over. I moved the plug wires two positions clockwise where they had been originally and got everything running. I know it was probably stupid to switch them in the first place. After all of the upgrades and some adjustment with a timing light (I had to advance the timing a ton with the altitude here) the engine was running stronger than it had yet. I was able to drive it to work (~18 miles at highway speeds) a few days. That weekend I pulled the plugs to check things out and my even numbered plugs were all black and wet as if they were burning too rich, or maybe not at all. Ugh. I've double checked the rotor position compared to TDC on the balancer and adjusted the plug wire position again and advanced the timing just a touch more. I checked the even plugs yesterday and don't seem to have anymore fouling(fowling?), but I need to check all the plugs this weekend. Idle seems solid, but with a slight occasional stumble. I'm not sure if I need to check valve lash or if I just need to put a little more fuel into the mix on one side of the carburetor. I've followed carb tuning guides from AllPar, the Chrysler Master Tech Videos, and the service manual and I think I've got it about as good as I can without having an O2 sensor. That FiTech throttle body is looking better everyday!
5. New valve cover gaskets, stripped paint on valve covers and Air Cleaner Assembly. Hopefully I'll get a warm enough weekend to paint them sometime during the winter. Either way the bare aluminum is an upgrade from the peeling black paint in my previous picture.

ToDo: High priority items right now are Suspension and Steering.
Steering: I was able to make a small adjustment to the power steering and it is better, but not terrific. I read an article about "pumping down" the power steering, but it seems to only apply to the Saginaw power steering pumps. I do not have a saginaw. Anybody know of a way to reduce pressure on a federal (I think) power steering pump? Can I just buy a rebuilt saginaw for ~$70 and use that? I feel like I might be happy enough for now with that combination instead of going through the hassle and cost of replacing the whole thing with the manual fast ratio from FirmFeel, although that will probably be the long term goal.

Suspension: The whole car sways like a rope bridge in a windstorm. Every small bump jumps the backend like I have no suspension. Any advice is welcome, but here are my thoughts so far. It sounds like everyone who has gone with cheaper shocks/struts eventually ends up spending the money on Bilsteins, so I figured I'd just jump straight to them. Is there any recommendation for where to buy these besides FirmFeel? It would seem like a good idea to replace the 50+ year old leaf springs. They seem relatively cheap. Is there something specific I need to look for or any concerns I need to think about for installing new springs? Do you know of any guides for adjusting the torsion bars that are dummy proof? I would imagine there's a lot of improvement to be had there with just a bit of time invested.

As always thanks for following and especially all the helpful tips!