finally starting

Hi Seventyswinger,
Good to hear from you on your project car. I ran across these folks in the panhandle of FL, "StripMasters" in Milton. They restore Mopars, maybe they have some leftover body pieces that you might need for patches. Looking under gallery two, they have rerstored a couple of 70 model Darts.
Do you need A/C ? There is a company in Tampa that sells components & complete systems (Classic Auto Air)?
Their "Perfect Fit" system goes in much like OEM & uses your current heater ctls to operate, but you can get a Univ Street Rod type (with electric or cable type ctls) & that one takes up a much smaller amount of under dash space.
They like HotRod Air & Vintage Air offer under dash A/C only units, if you don't want heat or defrost functions. I do think defrost is needed, especially on rainy days.
Just a few thouoghts

See them at: www.classicautoair.com