Best mods for money and performance

[jsbihn]

hey all,
ok, it is time I put more money into the rig and i am looking to find out the best mods for the money.
(let me first put out my disclaimer: I am not a cheapskate, i just firmly believe that if you can do the same or better then some things out there with less money then why pay more just because it is supposedly the best - ie. my vette's clutch everyone told me to get the 1000 dollar twin pack, but i found out through my research that the 250 dollar clutch works just the same and matches my power output too)

Ok, there is the deal.

this rig is my daily driver. I drive alot since i commute an hour and a half to work everyday. i am looking to increase the performance of the rig in power and gas consumption.
I would like to raise the truck a few inches so we can keep that in mind too.

I was thinking (since this is basically an iron block vette engine that all the vette add-ons would be the way to increase power - could be wrong)

I really want to start with anything that will help with fuel.
Also since my tranny seems a little lunky, i was wondering if anyone has tried reprogramming the shift points to optimize gas and the ride.
I use the cruise alot on my drive into work.

given there are a number of points when the cruise gases down and my inst gas econ goes from like 12 to 3. so i guess i would like a few more things to increase power to help get the rig up to speed quicker.

please list all you know
though also keeping in mind that freebee mods are the best (ie. like i know in the vette there is a mod you can do with the coolant line (by pass) to help keep the engine cooler)
then the inexpensive mods
and so on


Thanks for all your helps