Finally did it! Bought a Dart. Uhhhh… hmmm.

Hello forum,

I’m totally new to A bodies, wrenching, and automotive science. But I grew up with Darts in the late 60s and 70s, and ALWAYS have wanted one. Life is getting shorter, so I went and got one. 74 swinger in “repainted” b5 blue. 225 1 barrel with an automatic transmission. Starts on the first turn of the key. Essentially one owner, 41000 on the odometer. Might have rolled over but the pedals look very lightly worn. Hard to say from looking, and we don’t know for sure.

it’s basically the same car my grandmother had but with a black vinyl top. Though her’s might have been an earlier year. My brother and I have different recollections…

Buying it was great. A private sale and the (re)seller was one of the nicest guys I’ve met in quite a while. I’m psyched to get started…. After a little spine surgery….

I didn’t want to lose what looked to be a solid good running, driving, stopping car, so I bought it, but I won’t be able to start working on it for at least two months during recovery.

I’ve been watching YouTube mechanics and restorers for years to satisfy my wrenching jones, but now I’m ready to try my actual hands, or will be anyway. I’m hoping to do some more reading, watching, prepping, and forumizing, while I recover, so I can gather as much knowledge as possible.

I’m really glad to have been pointed to this forum resource, and I have ordered 2 books (so old school, I know…) by Herschel Whittington just to have some period info to start on, but: does the forum Gang here have any favorite books (in or out of print) for working on this car and the slant six?

Many thanks for any help in advance,

Adam