oh no, is this 8.75 housing too bad?

All the guys that I deal with that narrow rearends cut the old housing ends off and re-use them again as long as their not damaged. One thing to keep in mind is if that housing is the proper a-body width and someone added 11" brakes they just made it about 3/4" wider than stock cause 11" brakes and the required axles are wider and have more offset than a-body brakes and axles. If it is a-body width (52-5/8") housing end to housing end) there should be enough meat there to cut it down and still be usable cause they don't lose much cutting the ends off.