I just caught the part about you figuring it will be an 8 sec ride, with more to come. IMHO,get as much weight to the pass side as you can to get closer to even, then get it scaled by a chassis builder that races or crews for a car fast as or faster than what you are planning on. I went to a local guy that built chassis and was running a shoebox Chev, deep into the 8s, best money I have spent. The first trip to the track and I had to change one side of the wheelie bars by a 1/4 inch, and it launched dead perfect.