Man I feel for ya. I have lived that and it sucked. I had never heard of backspacing, but believe me it exists. I didnt have backing plates or anything and had to get some brakes to fit.
I was told by some that small bearing brakes are small bearing brakes, whether from an 8" or 9" rear. Then some said things about backspacing. Well I had (2) different sets of 8" small bearing brakes and backing plates and neither would fit correctly.
Here is my thread when I was doing the same thing with a 57 ford 9". Good info here.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=362935
I ended up using a setup from a 9" rear that was really close to being perfect, and it was made perfect by slightly grinding the backing plates down so everything hit were it should (i am talking very little). Someone recommended this so I did it. I used some clay inside when test fitting everything to make sure everything was lining up correctly. Works fine, and ebrake works great.
I wish I remembered more info but it was over 2 years ago when I went through this.