Thanks for the responses.
I plan to keep the original 3 speed manual transmission behind the 283. I spoke with a guy that owns a local salvage yard and he had a 59 1/2 ton in his yard that was an original 283 truck. He sold the motor and has recently sold the whole truck (what's left of it), but kept the transmission. I wasn't sure if there was a ratio difference in the transmissions or not. If there was, I was going to buy the trans that came out of his V8 truck. I am pretty sure my differential ratio is the 3.90. I don't know what the differential ratio of a V8 truck is. I'm trying to keep my truck as original as possible. I'm going with a 283 as it was an option. I wouldn't mind an automatic tranny, but I don't want to put a floor shift in to ruin it's original appearance of a column shifter.
