Hate to do it

I don't know why you don't wanna go 8-1/4? They WILL be cheaper than brand X rear ends no matter what you get. Hundreds of thousands of vehicles (primarily trucks) were made with it. You can pull one from a junk yard on the cheap. Just about every dodge truck for two decades had them. I would be highly surprised if you couldn't put an 8-1/4 in for less than 500. Is that not in your budget?