Smallblock efficiency or How to have your cake and eat it too

Thanks for clarifying that. I think i had better keep watching this thread because it looks like i am only getting about 11mpg (US) from my 408 W2 combo. I suppose the 3.9 gears and converter probably dont help too much but im sure it could be improved.
I have bought an afr gauge to try and get it more economical when cruising and am interested in what RAMM has to say about timing and if i should be using vacuum advance when cruising as i currently run an msd dizzy with no vacuum advance.

No vacuum advance is likely what is killing your mileage. Changing the distributor to a vacuum advance unit would be the first thing I would do in search of mileage.