[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by matthew21lutz

Well I'm glad that I've asked, I had no idea that they needed to be at 2000-2200rpms to be happy. I know that american powertrain offers a close range t56 magnum that has a .62 as the 6th gear, same cost as a wide ratio with a .50 6th gear. I need to know what would be the best for the ride and gas mileage.

Honestly, "resale" value, i do not care about one bit, I'm never going to sell this truck, I do not like new cars and I like these old trucks. Do I want to spend an astronomical amount of money? No but, I'm okay with spending a good bit of money to have reliability, performance and good gas mileage. I'd like to go for road trips across the country at some point in this truck.

As far as your questions go, 83 c10 silverado.
I'd like to get upwards of 20-25 mpg, with a fuel injected small block chevy 305, maybe a 350. I like the reliability that the small blocks have, as well as the cost of parts. Currently I'm averaging about 8-11mpg on my truck. So on an average work week, driving 80 miles a day and maybe 20 miles on the weekends, I'm spending right at $500 a month in gas. Mind you gas is not getting cheaper than $2 a gallon lol it's been going up more n more lately so, this brings concern for me. I can't afford to be driving it like this if gas hits $5 a gallon like it nearly did a few years ago.

You need to consider an LS based drivetrain for those numbers. I don't think you'll get there w/the old school power plants despite their reliability (even w/lots of tuning). Even then..... Aerodynamics will hinder the goal. My buddies more fluid 2000 GM truck (single cab short-fleet) yielded about 23mpg on the highway w/the LS based 5.3/4l60e combo. With tuning you might reach a similar number in a square but an LS power plant is more efficient vs a sbc.