Just out of curiosity I went over to the chevy talk site. The way I read the replys, many pointed out the same problems with a straight axel that were posted here. The big difference was instead of trying to talk you into a well handeling car they encouraged you to go foward with it based on the LOOKS of the car, not it's drivability.

From the pictures of the straight axel tri-5s posted the term cookie cutter seems to apply to your project as well, (looks to me like you will be copying someones elses work too).

You asked for an opinions here and got them, sorry they were not what you wanted to hear.

Oh by the way.... as far as driving one of these cars, I have, for a while just before the butchered frame was replaced with a stock one and upgraded suspension so the owner COULD actually drive the car cross country.