All Small Six Mild performance 200 on a budget

[Suns3tter]

Hello everyone, i am new to posting in this forum but i have been lurking around ever since i bought my car 2 years ago.

I have a '68 mustang with a very tired 200 and a 3 speed 3.03 manual behind it. Now, due to it being my first car and daily driver it ended up being beaten on preety hard during these 2 years, and the engine needs to be rebuilt. While i would normally just get a couple of friends, yank the thing out, do a craigslist overhaul and put it back in this time that is not viable, mainly because i want to get a bit more performance out of it but also because this engine refuses to die even when oil pressure drops to 0 and the lifters tick like hell. This reliability convinced me that this engine deserves a proper rebuild. Naturally since i am only 21 years old and as a result not very rich, i have a budget of 1-1.2k for everything.

The engine itself is a '68 block but i swapped the head from a '69 250 i got from a junkyard due to it having the larger log intake, and because my old head was cracked. The valve guides are shot, and i need to have new ones put in. I am aware this head is not the best swap due to it not having the larger 1.75 intake valves but because i live in Sweden it is the only large log head in the entire country i could find. Before i swapped it i did a bit of porting, cut out most rough parts of the casting where i could to improve the airflow and i also had it milled 0.60 to get the compression up. I am also running a weber 32/36 with a homemade 2-1 adapter that fits a large log.

I decided that i am going with a 2V conversion on the head with a direct bolt on autolite 2100, and that i want to install a decent camshaft. I am unable to spend a lot, so it will have to be a camshaft that i can order off the shelf. Since i can not afford to put ARP bolts and studs everywhere due to shipping and tax basically doubling the cost of anything i buy the engine likely won't ever rev past 5k rpm due to me using stock replacements on everything. As a result i am looking for a cam that gives me the most power at around 2-5k rpm. I will also likely need to have the cylinders bored. As for the rocker assembly i am able to get my hands on a 170 for a decent price, so i will just steal the adjustable rocker assembly out of that. I will also likely need to have the cylinders bored.

What exactly am i in for with what i specified?

 

[aussie7mains]

Ok, Im in Australia, we have Crowcams, they have cams for your engine, I would advise to not go any bigger than 210 degrees @0.050inches duration, and stay hydraulic, you only have 3 speeds to work with so you need a broad spread of torque to work with that. If you cannot source that cam then just run the stock one. JP In Australia has cast iron oil pump replacements, only standard oil output is needed. Your only going mild so nothing other than stock pistons, rod bolts etc is needed. Stick with the 32/36 weber carb, its a good match for the 200 (our Aussie 200 and 250ci crossflows used this to get good power and economy). As to valves, just stick to what you have 200ci doesnt need much more. You will need headers of some sort, if your handy you could make your own, Ive had a design I would like to try for a while, but I dont run log engines any more. It acknowledges the siamesed centre exhaust port and would work OK for a street car. Here we have a few derivitives of the older six, so few people bother with anything else. If you can get 9:1 compression ratio, thats just fine, flat top pistons will give that. because your 68 Mustangs is fairly heavy, you need as much low to middle torque as you can get. Just for amusement Ive thrown in a piccie of my crossflow 200ci six with a Sprintex blower. Hope this helps some. NB dimensions on the header drawing are mm diameter of the pipes, length doesnt matter much, just whatever is convenient to fit.

 

[Suns3tter]

Ok, Im in Australia, we have Crowcams, they have cams for your engine, I would advise to not go any bigger than 210 degrees @0.050inches duration, and stay hydraulic, you only have 3 speeds to work with so you need a broad spread of torque to work with that. If you cannot source that cam then just run the stock one. JP In Australia has cast iron oil pump replacements, only standard oil output is needed. Your only going mild so nothing other than stock pistons, rod bolts etc is needed. Stick with the 32/36 weber carb, its a good match for the 200 (our Aussie 200 and 250ci crossflows used this to get good power and economy). As to valves, just stick to what you have 200ci doesnt need much more. You will need headers of some sort, if your handy you could make your own, Ive had a design I would like to try for a while, but I dont run log engines any more. It acknowledges the siamesed centre exhaust port and would work OK for a street car. Here we have a few derivitives of the older six, so few people bother with anything else. If you can get 9:1 compression ratio, thats just fine, flat top pistons will give that. because your 68 Mustangs is fairly heavy, you need as much low to middle torque as you can get. Just for amusement Ive thrown in a piccie of my crossflow 200ci six with a Sprintex blower. Hope this helps some. NB dimensions on the header drawing are mm diameter of the pipes, length doesnt matter much, just whatever is convenient to fit.View attachment 16690View attachment 16689

Thank you for the advice, i forgot to specify that i already have a pair of china headers and a homemade dual exhaust on the car so no fabbing is needed there.
I will look around for crow cams, it’s not the cam itself but the shipping cost that would absolutely eat into my budget.
Pic related is what i’ve done to it until now

 

[pmuller9]

Schneider Racing Cams

schneidercams.com

| Howards Cams

www.howardscams.com

 

[aussie7mains]

Thank you for the advice, i forgot to specify that i already have a pair of china headers and a homemade dual exhaust on the car so no fabbing is needed there.
I will look around for crow cams, it’s not the cam itself but the shipping cost that would absolutely eat into my budget.
Pic related is what i’ve done to it until now
View attachment 16694

As I said, if the cam is difficult for you, just use your stocker, its the breathing that will hold back these engines, a set of springs might be advised, and they should be easier to ship, they are a little difficult to find. Other than that some reductions in engine drag (cooling fan water pump) would help in a small way, I cant imagine cooling is a problem in Sweden. Modifying the head to allow the weber to bolt on without the adapter would help, but costly?

 

[bmbm40]

A forum member used a Carter BBD? 2v carb on his 200 six and claims a good increase in performance. This could save you money because the Carter is a small base 2v and can be fitted to the existing carb mounting on the log head and you just open up the carb hole for the 2v. There was some work on the throttle cable attachment and an adapter. So that would save you some money on 2100 direct mount machine work, you could sell your Weber and the Carter 2v can be had used rebuildable or china made copies for inexpensive. If I can find the links to that post I will get them, should be able to find.

 

[Suns3tter]

As I said, if the cam is difficult for you, just use your stocker, its the breathing that will hold back these engines, a set of springs might be advised, and they should be easier to ship, they are a little difficult to find. Other than that some reductions in engine drag (cooling fan water pump) would help in a small way, I cant imagine cooling is a problem in Sweden. Modifying the head to allow the weber to bolt on without the adapter would help, but costly?

I will grab a set of 289 springs, that is easy for me to get my hands on and i was considering it before especially with a cam. The previous owner had an aluminum rad put into it so cooling is no issue with the stock fan either.
Speaking of, is a stock '69 250 cam the same as a '68 200 cam?

A forum member used a Carter BBD? 2v carb on his 200 six and claims a good increase in performance. This could save you money because the Carter is a small base 2v and can be fitted to the existing carb mounting on the log head and you just open up the carb hole for the 2v. There was some work on the throttle cable attachment and an adapter. So that would save you some money on 2100 direct mount machine work, you could sell your Weber and the Carter 2v can be had used rebuildable or china made copies for inexpensive. If I can find the links to that post I will get them, should be able to find.

The issue i have is when i have to fully open the carb during hard acceleration it hesitates a bit, if the bdd is a more viable choice with less modifying required i might consider it. Thank you for the advice

 

[bmbm40]

Have attached pdf file hope you can open them for the Carter BBD.

 

[aussie7mains]

I will grab a set of 289 springs, that is easy for me to get my hands on and i was considering it before especially with a cam. The previous owner had an aluminum rad put into it so cooling is no issue with the stock fan either.
Speaking of, is a stock '69 250 cam the same as a '68 200 cam? Yes i think they are the same, certainly timing wise, however I would check that the clearance on the camshaft (between the lobes) is OK. Some early cams wont have this clearance for the big ends to pass the cam.

The issue i have is when i have to fully open the carb during hard acceleration it hesitates a bit, if the bdd is a more viable choice with less modifying required i might consider it. Thank you for the advice