OK, I have selected to stay with the Toploader. It's a better shifting box than the TKO and it's original. The tail shaft selected is the 17" Torino (31 spline) with a modified Hurst short shifter which will look like the MKII Cobra when installed. The advantage to this setup is that the box is the same dimension as the C6 and should bolt right in without any modification to either chassis or driveshaft, we will see. David Kee suggested that I use the wide ratio setup since I am planning to use a long rear end, 288 or 308. Originally, Toploaders were only setup as close ratio with a big block motor 1 3/8 input shaft, but Kee can set up both. 1st will be 2.70 instead of 2.12. We will see when I get the box back! It seems that the chassis is already set up for the Toploader, the rear chassis mount has 2 sets of holes, nice touch. The bell housing we found is from a Ford Galaxy 427. I am excited about it.
Emmanuel