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Wow, power brakes are even rarer than power steering. You'll want to be aware of Booster Dewey for if/when your power brake booster or other components need repair.
Careful, there—see here.
Diagnosis: does the engine temperature gauge work, or is that dead, too?
Cable will certainly need lubed, and the speedo head itself very well may need rebuilt; see here.
Power for that choke heater needs to go through a choke modulator, or you'll have driveability problems as the choke will kick off too quickly. This '73+ factory setup is problematic even in intended configuration on intended cars; you're better off putting in a № 1231 electric choke kit instead.
There's nothing last-resort about it; the carbs were getting better and better year by year, and the '63 carbs had solved a whole lot of teething problems with the '60-'61 units. In your shoes I would go snap up this 1963 Valiant/Dart Holley 1920. It'll drop right on and everything will hook up; the only difference is the fuel inlet is on the side instead of the front. Good excuse to do the Fuel line mod.