b body rear end questions,a body rear upgrade

That thing will probably be way wide. I have a much narrower 68 B-body rear axle in a Duster that has much wider wheelwells than you do and I'm running 4.125 backspacing 15x7's all the way around.

The 8 1/4 will probably live alright if you don't use super sticky tires. I'd rather have an 8 3/4.
My guess is just over 3 inches wider each side