Well, here we go with the rear end swap.

Garrett Ellison said
The 8-1/4 is a pretty good rear for a c-clip axle. They consume a lot less power than an 8-3/4 (actually not a whole lot more than the 7-1/4) and stand up to a pretty fair amount of abuse before breaking. The only times I have actually known of them breaking has been in lifted big tired four wheel drives doing things they were never intended to do. The weakest part is the spider gears and carrier followed by the pinion (usually crush sleeve related).

The 8.25 going in my car has the spacer instead of the crush sleeve, so hopefully I won't have any problems with the rear end related to the pinion.
Even though 50 years old and used the parts look in really nice condition, so it's possible someone put new parts in it.
The axles where the bearings ride looks nice also, so I don't have to put repair bearings in it yet.
The Limited slip parts that came out of the mid 90's Dakota look almost new, so I suspect it was mostly driven pretty easy.

I'm pretty happy with the whole thing so far, and am looking forward to doing some steering with the rear again.:D

Got the green car's 8.75 spring perches welded in place at 3 degrees down on the pinion and the carrier put in and coated with rust encapsulator yesterday, and will be assembling the disc brake kit brackets and such today.
Working under a tree in my back yard.:D