At 9:1 with a 431 I'd run a Street dominator, ported 906 and a Crower 32242 cam. .486/.496, 222/234 @.050 112 centers in at 108.

As for short rods, the slighty shorter "dwell" near TDC is actually beneficial on the street as it makes it less likely to detonate, with a still big ~4.31" bore and an open chamber, short rods help. Faster pull away from TDC also increases the intake fuel metering signal, if only slightly.
Stronger signal is good for torque and can make a motor feel a little less Cammy off idle.

431/451 I'd always go 6.36" but....opinions vary

My 427" (4.04"B x 4.17"S) 351W in my cobra replica has a ~1.46:1 (6.123" 340 rods BTW) rod ratio and it's inch for inch about the torquiest mutha I ever built!! With ~300cfm Trick flow heads it has no trouble pulling to 6500
but I usually short-shift it at about 5800.