[RICK LAKE]

Jayh Jay the key questions about this are these,
What are you doing with the car? Cruising, Car shows,Drag racing,Autocross, looking to scary the crap out of your self??
What trans is in the car and what gear ratios does it have?
If you are going to be harder on the car, other things are going to pass there safe limit and start breaking. The rearend is a light duty one. The axle shafts are not the strongest either. Depending on tires, wear thread numbers and how soft there are also add stress to the drive train. The weakest thing will break or wear out faster.

Here the thing, IF you are going to keep the car forever, start to upgrade the drivetrain. Add a posi and goto a 8.8 reaend or a custom 9" Either are a good choice. IF you spend the extra money and go 9" you can get other center sections and change the rear gears in about 1 hour from 3.00 for cruising to 4.10 for hauling bacon. 8.8 can be made stronger with adding a rear cover support to it. This applies pressure to the carrier caps and stops the carrier from walking in the case. I use them on all my dana 44 rearends. They are not upto the abuse and torque without support and better parts like axles.

With the OD trans, alot of people goto a 3.73 or 4.10 rearend ratio for quicker acceleration with a posi, ( this is key to) No posi, 1 wheel smoking.

Last thought, leave the car alone and enjoy it as it is. The more speed or power you want the more problems happen over time. IF you sell the car down the road you will never get all the money you spent on it. Adding a better rearend may bring another $200.00 on an $750.00 investment, this is if you do all the wrenching.

I have a 600+ ft torque motor and 510 hp. Have upgraded the trans, and rearend to handle the power. Have now gone to a twin disc clutch assembly to handle the power and stop wearing out the single clutch disc setup. Cost for single setup $350.00, new setup $750+. Faster, yes. Smoking the tires more, yes. Problem is car is getting too quick for my driving skills. I have started to detune the motor and may change to a 3.07 ratio instead of the 3.31 I have now to slow down the car a little. Changing driver inputs also helps. Good luck with your choice. Rick L.
ps side thought, if you are looking for a better driving car, you might want to look at a better suspension setup of handling. IF you want straight line accell, disregard last ps