It all depends on whether or not you want to keep it "original". While this is older, it's not considered a "muscle" car, so restoring it back to it's 1977 condition, it may not garner the money that you would think its worth.
I know this has a lot of sentimental value for you and your Dad, so, in my opinion, I would do what you want to. If there are no models available in that year that had a manual transmission, there are other MOPARS that may be close enough in style to make the auto to manual transmission viable. Look at other Plymouth and Dodge models because I would almost guarantee that a manual was offered at one time or another. Adding dual carbs with a larger diameter exhaust would help it breathe, I would also suggest that you upgrade the points in the distributor to a pointless system. Any performance parts should be relatively inexpensive, so the sky is the limit on the amount of work you want to do on the engine.
Other than that, make it where it can be a safe, enjoyable and reliable car that you can drive for many years.
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mults
40th Anniversary 'Z', 312.06HP/260.58TQ (Dynosty EcuTek Tune)
Build Date/Number: 1/27/2010 #706
Berk HFC + CBE, R2C CAI, Clear Bra, Cleveland Z Club
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