Thanks so much for all of the help and insight.

The 1.08" bars are here and I'm going to give them a shot. At some point I may go for the 1.14" if these don't work out. I have to guess that someone will want the 1.08" bars if I need to sell them to recoup some of the costs. In any case, compared to 45 year old stock bars, it should be a huge step up.

The next question I have is about the leaf springs...if the Hotchkis ones are too soft (and need a helper) is there an option that provides both a drop and an adequate spring rate?

Any concerns about matching the front and rear spring rates?