8 3/4 gears

Many thanks to all who answered. I think I'll try Rick's approach. I'm planning on going to 3.73 or 3.91 gears. Summit Racing has steelies and Ralleys in 15" SBP, if I can use those and put some discs on the rear, I'll be happy. FYI, the motor will be a 408" Trick Flow heads and intake, a Racer Brown cam around .685@256, and 10.5 to 1. The carb I have is a QF 750 mechanical secondary. TTI step headers, and MSD E-Curve distributor. A Pat Blaise 727is done, and I'm told a big 3500-4000 converter will work for street and light strip duty.
That cam combo is gonna need a good converter! I am using a PTC 9.5" 3500 unit and it really helps the mild 3.23 gearing. I stayed with drum rear brakes for simplicity, just upgraded to the large shoe/drum size.