I have the XHD leafs from MP and my car sits about the same as Katfish's, but there seems to be some variance in ride height with each set (from the feedback on this site) so I would think Espo would be the way to go to get the height you want. I believe stock height springs will leave about an inch of tire covered by the quarter when viewed from the side.
I kind of have the same feeling as Brads70 as to the size of the front torsion bars, you may not be able to get the nose down with a small block. .96's may be a better choice?
As for shocks, I have Edelbrock IAS shocks and really like them. KYB's may be as good or better but I've never owned any.