meet ginger

Looks pretty decent! And you clearly have a keeper better half

Were it not for the fact that I found an 8 3/4" housing with axles for what I thought to be a good deal, I'd probably pursue the 8.8" angle...I could find them all day long out of exploders for $500 (or less depending on the guy behind the counter) disc to disc, with 3.73s and a trac loc.

On the other side of that equation, I've eclipsed that same amount on gathering parts for my 8 3/4" with a SG and 3.55 gears, and it's not even complete (still need to swap the gears in my carrier), and my crop the driveshaft about 2"...which you'd have to do regardless of which way you went. And you may be near some guys/gals with the 8 3/4s springing out their ears with sure grips falling from trees in a gear ratio you want...if that's where you are, man, I envy you, but the relative ease of modification and parts availability for an 8.8 swap are food for thought...