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As oldtamiyaphile has said, the vast majority of auto transmissions are destroyed when rolling in neutral at high speeds because they require the input shaft to be turning to pump lubricant. You're likely to be burning somewhere in the range of a gallon of gasoline every 2 hours just keeping the V8 idling to prevent the auto transmission from grenading. I understand that swapping it out the transmission is relatively expensive and involved, but the cost of not swapping it out is probably even higher.
In terms of cost effective improvement:
Mandatory) For any vehicle, low rolling resistance tires generally pay for themselves in fuel savings, even if they cost more up-front. Aero-mods are cheap-to-free, and show returns, especially in vehicles that are aerodynamically poor to begin with.
Best) Return and/or rebuild your current engine and drivetrain to make it more efficient. Double your mileage for very little cost.
Better) Change vehicles to something that already has a more efficient drivetrain, or one that doesn't need work to get it running efficiently. An old diesel van? A Mercedes diesel with a trailer? An RV? Even an old school bus? Get something with a manual transmission, since they last longer and are cheaper to work on. I'm leery of high-mile automatics.
Good) Swap in a better drivetrain. I don't know older American vehicles as well as newer imports, but a you may have diesel options that are nearly drop-in, requiring little to no fabrication. A tall manual transmission would be a tremendous improvement. A drivetrain swap has the chance of giving you even better economy than upgrading what you have, but the total cost involved is higher, and the projected break-even point will be farther out. The more exotic the change (e.g. diesel-electric), the more it's going to cost.
Food for thought: Imports and even hybrids are more mass-produced today American vehicles, and parts are still being made. If a motor mount goes out on my (50 mile per gallon+) Civic, would you believe that it would only cost me $8 for a replacement? A belt tensioner is less than $20, tie rod ends are $6. A head gasket is $24 (for a hybrid engine, no less!), and a complete brand-new gasket set for the entire engine is little more than $80.
Honda (just as an example, because I know them) gasoline engines are more reliable than older American ones, and will almost always run over 200,000 miles with little to no maintenance. Most engines will run over 300,000 miles. If you take care of it, you might even get 4-500,000 miles without a rebuild on a modern imported engine. I don't know how many miles your van's worn-out V8 has, but I'm betting that not too many American gasoline engines from that time period generally make it to 250,000 without major work.
And if you're really concerned about EMP, buy a spare computer from eBay and keep it in a shielded box. If an EMP comes, take the computer out of the box and plug it in.
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What is best for you is really going to depend on how much you drive. As someone who puts over 40,000 miles on my cars each year, changing over to my Honda hybrid from my F150 paid for the entire car plus insurance, registration and maintenance in just 4 months, in fuel savings alone. If you don't drive very much, cheap improvements on your existing vehicle are likely to have a better return.
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