Thanks for the advice and suggestions.

I'm thinking 700r4 because I work part time at a Corvette supply shop and can get one cheap out of a car we take apart.

If I do the 440 thing, it will be pretty mild. The Mag is my daily driver, but I want to have some fun with it too. I'm thinking 350-375hp and 450-500 ft/lbs would be good. I don't think that would be too expensive or difficult to do and still have a shot at reasonable mpg if I can put in an OD trans too.

Hot Rod did a 518 install and it looked like a giant pain and, if I remember correctly, they had to manually engage/disengae the OD. Being able to hook up the shifter would be a big bonus though.