no, it doesn't have to be cut down. BUT, the driver's side tire will stick out a little further than the pass. side, by about 3/8". I just got thru doing the versailles swap, nobody told me about that, but when I mentioned everybody was like 'ya, I have the same problem'. I wish they would've told me that earlier. The other thing with the versailles housing is the angle of the spring perches. There are two ways to approach this, cut them off and weld on some new ones to arrive at the correct pinion angle(could also maybe fix the off-center condition(prob. above) at the same time), or use the brackets, cushion, and wedges form the versailles. I went the latter route since I had all the parts at my disposal. Other than these two small obstacles, the swap was well worth it. Car stops on a dime.
I bought a complete driveable versailles for $900, with a great running 351W/C4. As for the install, I spent about $90 on Earl's braided stainless lines(factory ones are practically obsolete and cost just as much), $19 on new pads, got rotors turned, reused the calipers as they were in good shape. I scored a rebuilt centersection with 3.70's and a trac-lok for $350. I think I lucked out because with the exception of the gears, everything was in good working order.
The versailles swap is cost effective only if the following conditions are met:
1) you get a decent deal, like $300 or less, they do sell for more. If Dhearne wants 3 bills for a complete unit, it might be wise to get it. They are desirable among hot-rodders and are of course getting rarer.
2)you can get all the hardware that goes with the housing-EVERYTHING, you never know what all you might end up using
3)the rotors and calipers are usable and in good condition
The rotors sell for about $65 apiece if I remember correctly, calipers are $70 apiece, lines will run you around $90/pair whether you go aftermarket like me or are able to find some stockers floating around, figure about $20 for new pads. That adds up to $380. Figure a new or rebuilt centersection with 'posi' would run around $400+. Now your at $800 in parts, not including a housing. Tough call......