Cruising RPM and Manual Trans Options

I am running the 5 speed for the same reason, I don't want to be spinning the crap out of my 5.7 running it down the highway to work or if I want to go on a road trip I can do it without getting 4 mpg. The way I look at it, the better gas mileage I can get with it the more I can drive it...

On top of all that my budget absolutely sucks for this whole build so everything is on the cheap. And by going with the NV3500 I am saving boat loads of cash (at least on the front end). Instead of $2-300 for a flywheel I paid 80, instead of $1300 for the trans I paid $440, Instead of a $500 bell housing I paid $0 and my clutch is a stock replacement I can get at cost.

So far that saves me $1480-1580 without the clutch cost savings....