Hi Don, its nice to hear someone elses struggles with building the rod of their dreams. Or, at least close to the desired one. If I had heard from you about 6 weeks ago I would have jumped at your offer of the 4" Merc crank. But, I had to settle for the original 3 3/4" crank which has now been reground, balanced and ready for assembly.
You lost me with the gear ratio data. I am just now getting into that study in prep. for choosing the correct trans. and rearend. Right now I am looking closely at going for a 4-speed Ford Top Loader. But, I have to take the time to really engineer this phase of my project.

NTL Lee Ketchum