Welcome to the board broncman.
For power you should pay most attention to making your 200 to be breath well. This means, you should concentrate around the cylinder head.
You don't want to use an early style head. Being in AK, you shouldn't be too specific on what you should build with, but deffinitely find what we call a "big log" head. 170s, 200s, and 250 engines are all suitable donors. Anything after 1970 will be great with a little work. Basically, the casting number should start with a "D" (1970's decade) or an "E" (1980's decade). Casting numbers that start with a "C" are "small log" heads (referrring to the intake log).
Find a good head.
- Have it cleaned and checked first. Do a little pocket porting in the valve pockets. Next, modify the intake to accept a Holley 2bbl or a Weber 2bbl directly to the intake. Have a valve job done (request a 3 angle job). Talk to your machinist about milling the head in order to get a Compression ratio in the area of 9.2:1 He will need to have a block to check specs on at the same time.
Go with a 260H cam from Comp Cams or a similar grind from fordsixparts.com Install adjustable rocker arms (rollers are also available from fordsixparts.com). Use a Duraspark II distributor (from any '76 or later 200 or 250 engine). You can use a generic GM 4 pin module for spark. Slap on a set of headers if you can fit them in the budget.
You'll have a good size increase in power over that little 170 and have plenty of torque for running in 4WD off road.
Feel free to use the search engine and poke around on this site. Lot's of cool setups, and there are alot of ways to fit a 2bbl to the manifold. Avoid use of an adapter at all costs (especially since you are builing from scratch).
You might also consider purchasing a copy of the "Falcon Six Performance Handbook" by the Schjedahl Bros. They may give you some other ideas you may want to explor.
All that said, you might think about using a 250 engine over a 200. The 200 is a direct swap for the 170, but the 250 should go without too much more work. In the end, with all the same work, you should have an extra 40 ft/lbs (+ or -) of torque with the 250 engine vs a 200.
. Welcome! OO6./The-X-Or-Six!
