1968 Dart 270 NON-build

I've posted a few time here looking for advice as I've looked at various a-bodies. Things finally came together and I brought one home. The title of this thread relates to a promise I made my wife that I was not going to buy another restoration project and only a driver. So while I will be making upgrades, this will have to happen a little at a time. Just the other day I was making a list of wheels/tires, suspension and brake parts, and headers/intake/carb, and my wife had to remind me of my previous assurance... It's too easy to get into the "while I'm at it".

So I've wanted an a-body since I was a kid. Mostly had my eye on a Duster, but we made an offer on a 1967 Dart GT for my first car. That ended up being the one that got away.

This car showed up as a "what is it worth" post on Facebook. I contacted the poster as he was in a city I was about to move to. It took a while to be able to actually get out and see it. Turns out he recently bought the car but it was still being held at the previous owners house. We met at the previous owners house, who bought it from the original owner in '89 in California. After moving to Memphis in the mid 90's it stayed mostly in the garage. It still wears the tires from the mid 90s.

The car has a 318/904/7.25 powertrain. Pretty much stock. It was originally light green (frost green?), with a white vinyl top. It was (poorly) repainted red in the mid 90s. It has scratches/chips, plus paint all over the dry rotted weatherstrip. The paint will have to do for now. I may attempt some touch ups, but a repaint is NOT in the immediate future.

The car had a really hard pedal and little stopping power. I also had to use starting fluid the first time I started it cold (funny how it had been warmed up when looking at it). The cause for booth seems to be a vacuum leak in the booster. Just trying to decide on using a universal booster or converting to manual brakes.

It must have been optioned with HD suspension, I measured the torsion bars @ .890 and I count six leaves on the rear. The front suspension is pretty tight, but the boots are disintegrating on all ball joints and ends. Again, I was planning on going ahead and rebuilding, but I'm going to hold off since I promised this was a driver.

The bottom is CLEAN, with only light surface rust here in there. I could paint it, but it almost seems a shame. I could seal it all with linseed oil. It would protect it and still show the original condition.

Plans now are fix the brakes, and get new tires and shocks, and cruise. Ok, also a Jegs 2.5 inch exhaust. It needs a little more attitude .

Future plans include front disks, new rear springs, meatier wheels/tires (Mustang?), and a Magnum 318/360. If I ever paint, I might consider changing to white.