I have heard the line get a car if I want mpgs, but I don't want a small car I just want 20mpg. To me thats enough to not worry about much. I want to help with a forum of different ideas for those of us who DD our trucks becouse we like them or like me do like many new cars. Much less wanna pay for one.

The truck will not see HD use as it's biggest task will be a Home Depot run, and if I need alot. 2 trips will be just fine. I just something to haul my basic life around mountain bikes, dogs, and larger car parts I need.

I know the FE has wedge chambered heads that is not the best for leaner fuel mixtures, but how bad is it really compared to a traditional D-chamber?

I have a electric fan to re-place my direct drive. Alone this should be a big gain. Especially when added to a set of gears.

I will add headers and a 2 inch dual exhaust. I choose 2" to keep the torque higher where I will drive, and I have a 352FE which is not that big. Small block chevy's do well with this combo so why not a 352FE.

Rear end with sub 3.0 gears. Hopefully 2.70's. I want to get a 70's Lincoln rear becouse they would get the better or best Factory parts available. Plus the gearing I want. My general plans point me towards a 9", but what about the 8.8? Is there something to be gained from going with this rear? I know the explorer rear works well with my planned CV swap, and it has disks brakes. It also can be had cheap enough from a couple of places I know.

To the above I plan to add a C6, but is there another Ford transmission thats good enough for a truck. I thought FMX, but theres not much available for them besides just a shift kit. I want to add a 2200rpm stall convertor to help with traffic type driving. I heard about the C5 but can't find one or real info on one. Essentially I am looking for Ford's version of a TH350. Also a OD is out of my budget for the next few years.

Right now for my future tires I am thinking used 17" Charger rims. and tires. My wifes car has these, and it handles great. It also weighs 1000 pounds more then my truck roughly. So how bad could they be right? I am also thinking 16" Mustang rims. This mostly depends on the wheel well openings, and the desired look. Either one should work well, and in the end both can be had cheap in my area.

I am done with getting my truck truely road worthy, and I have driving it about 100 miles so far and it feels fine. Now I am a few weeks from gathering parts so I wanna nail my ideas down better.

What do you guys think? Anything else I can do with craigslist finds, and looking for the best bag for the buck approach.