I'm trying to decide the same.. my last car was 3.91's and it was a ton of fun but miserable to drive for long.. i will probably end up with 3.23s myself even with my small block plan.. rather have a car i enjoy driving all the time rather than just fun when beating on it.
BTW.. since this thread is going... switching from open to a sure-grip (i am probably going to end up with a sure-tracII though) takes shorter axles yes?