First off the K&N Gen II kits are a good kit to my knowledge. I ordered one from
www.performancecombos.com it was $159 I believe. Turns out they first sent me the wrong one ( one for a 4.9l truck ) but I have had nothing but good dealings with thier customer service department on trying to getme the correct kit. I recommend these guys. Gears- What are your current gears now? With the 3.73's and the stick you an really get some good low power and stop light fun. Like a Mustang, it is my OPINION that the auto trucks like the lower gears and the stick trucks a slightly higher gear. Depends also on what you plan on doing with the truck, everday driving, towing/hauling or a street warrior ( and I have seen a few 4.9 L trucks that handed me my butt before so dont laugh ) Throttle Body. This has been brought up so many times its not funny. I havent been able to find a straight answer if the dual 50 MM throttle body that is stock on my truck ( 302 ) and the one on a 4.9 or Big Block truck ( also a dual 50 mm throttle body but slightly different ) will interchange and make any difference. There are Throttle bodies for the 302 trucks, Edelbrock makes them, three different sizes. One thing you need to think about is, Is you truck mass air. There are mass air conversions available ( Summit has these I believe ) that will allow you to change to mass air and have a cold air induction system using the K&n kit in conjunction. As far as the jacobs ignition goes, I have no comments. I ave no experience with Jacobs products what so ever. Im a MSD man myself and stick to those faithfully. Timing, there is not a set number that you can go to. slowly start to bump it by 2 degrees at a time and test for pinging and detonation. Also its important to run a higher grade octane gas ( IMO ) during this mod and continue afterwards. Timing is different on each vehicle depending on other mods, weather conditions, and driving habits. Hope this helps
Bradley