well, after much research, parts procurement and more than a little bloodshed,
i took my '86 K-Baron out for her shakedown run this afternoon
the 5 speed swap wasn't as easy as i thought it would be, but it wasn't too bad.
i ran into a few snags, but nothing major. the shadow trans mount needs to be about .5" shorter and the shifter cables are WAY too long, i could use a selector cable about 6" shorter and a shorter crossover cable too.
that and the whole 9" clutch on a 2.2 NA flywheel thing
all in all, once i get the bugs worked out, it should be well worth it