If I was doing it again, I would do the same as before. Pop the motor up out of the mounts, add a doubler in front of the 231 made from another 231, scootch the motor forward until the rear driveshaft goes back in, put engine mounts on the frame right there.
You get a doubler, drive shafts are the same length as before, fan shroud from a 4.0 works perfectly, build in motor mount lift height as needed to eliminate a MML, really confuses folks that try to figure out what you did.
Not that you should but if a 3 speed were your end goal, use a 241. That would give you 1-1, 2.72-1, 4-1, and 10.88-1 and the overall weight added is less than 100 lbs.