[Already Gone]

I know exactly how you feel. I bought my truck with a 68 396 in it in 2001. The price of gas wasn't bad in 2001 but by 2005/2006 it started to get nuts. I only use the truck in the summer ( April/May through Sept/Oct ) and thought of getting a 700R4 but that conversion would be about 3000.00 to do properly. So to gain 2 or 3 mpg it wouldn't be worth it to spend 3000 on the the conversion. With you living in Illinois I'm sure you won't be driving your truck in the Winter months either. After all the work you have done on the truck drive it to enjoy it and get yourself a commuter vehicle. Pick up an old Crown Vic cop car from police auction and commute with that. They are tough as nails and cheap to fix and you can run them 3,4, 500,000 miles before they die. Around here 2008,2009 and 2010 ex-cop Crown Vics go for 900.00 to 16/1700 at the auction. The unmarked ones usually bring a few more bucks if you don't want to drive a black and white.