I used a 241C from an early to mid 90s Chevy truck. Cheap, fairly strong, and I had a floor shift t case before so from inside the truck everything looks stock and works like stock. I also did a JB Conversions slip yoke eliminator and my rear shaft has 1410 joints on both ends. The front shaft is from a mid 80s GM truck, but all I used was the flange and CV assembly that got re-tubed and the proper size joint and slip put on the differential end.
Was the 243 an electric shift? If so, I'm sure you could use that and figure out how to make in engage. For the speedo, you just splice on another pigtail to fit the VSS. It controls the speedo, odometer, and rear ABS if that matters to you.