8flat, I understand about going up hills with a full load. Pulling the 58 up the I-90 Vantage hill I had to drop into 3rd @ 3,000 RPM and was barely able to hold it there. More torque (from the extra 100 cubic inches) would have been nice! Any idea how much do you weigh full of gravel?
Sounds like you have a 454 already? That can tip the decision a bit!