Restoring a car without documentation

Take tons of pictures of the car exactly like it is right now. I mean all kinds of details before you put a finger to it. Like of the torque boxes and floorboard where the shifter is.

The problem with this car is that in 1968 the only thing linking the body stamping numbers to the dash vin is the buildsheet. In the eyes of most any future buyer, someome just could have rivited that dash vin to that body.

Get a picture of the backside of the dash that shows the rivets. That could help you case showing the vin didn't look like it was replaced. But the whole dash frame could be swapped.

Reality is it cost a lot of money to restore a car. And all of the special 383 A-body parts are missing and will cost you a pretty penny.

The project you bought is worth a little more V-8 2 barrel with factory manual trans is worth PLUS the value of the loose parts.

Restore it with the mindset that you started with a 318 car. If you ever decide to sell it after it was restored AND you got more money for it than a 383 cloned from a 318 treat that as an unexpected windfall.

If you are only restoring because it was a 383 car, I think you should think long and hard. If you were were looking for a 67-69 Barracuda project like this anyway to build then go for it and make it yours, great. Treat the fact that is was a 383 as just an extra bonus and not a big deal.