A pump upgrade is not required with a ringless input shaft. In a dragster application, an 8 clutch drum should be fine, but I would go to 1.80 straight cut gear set and the ringless input. Tire shake is as hard on these parts as torque, hence the suggested upgrades. As far as spending money once, I agree with that. I sell a glide with aftermarket case, ringless input, 1.80 straight cut, 10 clutch drum, roller tailhousing, pro/tree brake, billet servos and other top line parts for $3500. We put this same trans in 3000lb cars that make over 2000hp and have no issues. Sure, I could upgrade it to a Vasco gearset, 300M NASA shaft and gerotor pump and take your $5000, but very few cars need that, so I dont sell many of those.

Monte