That IS a nice looking car. I swapped an '84 4-v intake onto my '75 shortbed and it made a ton of difference. I'm running an Edelbrock 600 carb. Otherwise its a stock '83 318. I am running a 4-spd with OD so I didnt have to mess with the kickdown but the cable and bracket are stock 318-2v parts.

I used a cruise control holddown on my truck with the cable going through the vertical part to get the cable where it needed to be. I also flipped it around and its angled toward the drivers valve cover.

I am also running and 8 1/4 rear and the 4 gear is much more violent on it than an auto would be so I think you will be fine, same deal with the trans. Those tranny and rear combos were used on 360 R/T Aspens BTW so they can hold up to a bit more power than a person would think.