[OrrieG]

I drove my 59 as a 235/3 speed truck for 10 years. It was my daily driver in town, on weekends I would toss on an 8' camper and head to the hills. When I got to Idaho I swapped in a granny 4 speed. One summer we (wife + 2 small kids) lived in it for 2 months traveling around the west. We got used to not being in a hurry, as top speed loaded was 55 on a good flat road. In mid 80's I converted to 283 th350 part time 4wd. Instantly gained 20 mph on the top end which made the 3 hour drive to my mountain places much nicer. Gas mileage did not change. My recommendation would be to find someone that has a stock truck and talk them into a day long road trip so you can judge for yourself. Inliners.com is a good resource for hot rodding 6 cylinder engines, the bigger ones (292-304 ci) can make some serious torque and horsepower, in the 60's my transmission mechanic in Oregon ran a rail with a six that beat SBC rails.