well, i know pleny of guys running 8's on stock style suspension, so 10's are definetly feasible.
the rearend: honestly, unless your shop is REALLY good, i would pitch it and save your money and put a moser unit in.
www.moserengineering.com and they have center chunks and whatnot as well. if you do go with having a shop do it up, take in your stock 7.5 for messurements and specs.
manual brakes are not necessary. i say stay with the powerbrakes.
shocks/struts/springs: most guys stay with the v6 springs and struts. i am not as fast as you will be but i am running the stock v6 springs and struts with a pair of monroe replacement shocks in the rear. really any stock spring will work pretty well. eibach makes some drag springs that are really nice if you want to go with a good aftermarket spring.
sway bars: i would run an iroc rear sway bar and either take the front sway bar completely off the car or, like me, disconnect it from the arms at the track.
wires: find the ignition and starter wires, and then if you decide to go carb, you can pretty much do away with everything else.
spohn: steve makes awesome stuff, i would definetly look at his conversion torque arm for your application. my father is running one of spohn's torque arms with his powerglide tranny. check out his lca's and panhard rods as well.
my other suggestions are: keep it streetable, and keep it comfortable (ie: full interior and stuff). also, for a cage, i would have someone put in a chromoly 8pt. if you can tig, then do it yourself. if your not planning on going any faster than 9.99, then i wouldn't put anything more than an 8pt. in it.