Need some suspension/chassis guidance
Yes it's a 8 3/4. I believe it's a B body rear. I'm trying to keep this a low budget as possible of course as this is mostly a street car I want to have some fun with. But I know I will have to spend some money. Yes I can weld and do fab work very regularly. I have a good MIG and a TIG. The only thing I don't have is a plasma cutter or a bead roller. I have a torch etc. I haven't done a 4 link but i'm no stranger to fab work. I've done my fair share. I plan to do as much myself as possible. I will probably have a guy I know narrow the rear as he is more qualified than I am at that. I'm not afraid to send stuff out if need be. I.E. I have a paint guy for my shop as I'm not experienced enough to do the paint work I need sometimes at my shop.
OK, low budget. In that case, here are my recommendations:
Stick with leaf spring style rear suspension. Possibly look at SS Springs or some of the monoleaf springs that others will recommend. I believe SS Springs will suit your purpose and you can still easily find them at a reasonable price. They do raise the rear of the car though so probably the monoleafs will be the direction you want for tucking the tires up in the fenders.
Since you can weld and fabricate, a mini-tub should be easy for you; spring relocation shouldn't be too difficult for you either.
Since you already have a B-body 8 3/4, I wouldn't waste money having it narrowed. Depending on the year, mid 60s to 1970 B-body housings fit well under Demons, Dart Sports, and Dusters. Besides, if you happen to break an axle shaft at the track, you won't have to spend big bucks looking for a custom axle to fit a custom width housing. You'll be able to find used wheels with the right backspacing at numerous swap meets or on-line.
325s may be pushing it with the tire tucked all the way up in the well; I honestly don't know as I've never ran them. I'm sure you have noticed that the rear axle sits closer to the fender lip on the front than the rear. Due to this, I recommend moving the rear axle back some to accommodate the larger tire, assuming 325s are narrow enough to be tucked up in there after you relocate the springs and mini-tub. You may have to trim the lip of the fender for clearance on the outside of the tire. I did't really care about the body on my 75 Dart Sport, so I just beat the inner lip flat against the inside of the fender with a rubber mallet. Never had a tire rub issue after that.
There's no need for a plasma cutter, except for expediency. I used cut-off wheels in a die grinder and a hack saw for my mini-tub.
I'm in the same boat as you with paint. I have most of the tools for doing body work, DA, long board, and jitter bug sanders, paint guns, etc..., but I leave it to the pros. With the price of paint nowadays, I'm not ready to waste a bunch of money learning how to.
Whichever way you decide to go, good luck with your project.
