Looks like several ideas have been batted around. I set up my 51 - 3100 with a Ford 9 inch because they are more plentiful around here than chevy rear ends. A 3:55 ratio was under a hundred bucks, but new brakes and seals as mentioned earlier were required. I used the original springs and purchased new perches from Jegs. I later went with a 3:08 for highway travel. There is an additional advantage with Ford rears, you can swap gears in under 2 hours without a lot of effort. Have the Ford lugs welded up and re-drill for Chevy 5 hole. Rims are more plentiful and cheaper (15 x7) and work fine without fender mods. If you want a slick hook-up with Ford rears to the original e-brake, check with Lokar products from Yogi's (Calamus, Iowa).
The rear brakes are the original drum type, but changed the front spindles to disc w/the straight axle. The master cylinder was changed for a dual reservoir along with inline pressure valves for drum/disc setups. This set up stops it real quick. Don't know if you really need 4 wheel discs unless you are towing.
