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If you were to look to some of the stick shift 300 powered pickups back in the mid 80s before fuel injection, they were getting the mid 20s for MPGs. The EPA has since revised its testing method and updated older ratings to show lower numbers, but some are still rated at 23MPG. You can actually track the MPG ratings over the years and there is a distinct drop when fuel injection was installed (along with a slight bump in power and torque). This is of course a 2wd, half ton, likely regular cab pickup with a clark 4 speed overdrive manual transmission (I think it was the clark....).
Generally, the 300 will get better MPGs than a 302, but I don't know if it will ever pay off for you. I've read over on FTE that headers and a well sized dual exhaust can help the 302, but I never tried any of those mods with my truck. Right now its a spare work vehicle that is parked most of the time since the diesel gets better economy and much more power.
I know some one over on oilburners.net that converted a 2wd stepside f150 to a 7.3 IDI diesel and that thing gets close to 30 MPG on the highway with 3.55 gears and 5 speed stick.
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