170 and 200 inline sixes

[Badlands]

For any guys out there running a 170 or 200, what can you tell me about performance and particular highway travel. I have conflicting reports that 50 miles an hour is about top end for any time and distance or that is not the case. If I have an original 170 or 200, what should I expect? What would you recommend to make longer road trips a little more manageable?
Thanks.

[akaFrankCastle]

I had a 170 in my 1966 for a bit. The big thing that will prevent you from achieving higher highway speeds is the gearing in the rear end. Most 170s came with 4:56 gearing in the rear to make up for the lack of oomph in the motor. I think 4:11s were also used. Your first step to get better speed out of it will be a gearing swap to a 3:50. Keep in mind that with that motor lower gearing is better for getting you through the day off the highway.

I'm guessing you are looking at the 1966 half cab you emailed to me. If that is the case and you are looking to keep it as stock as possible, then this will likely be your only real option for achieving what you describe.

If you are okay with changing things up a bit more, the options are limitless, but losing that original feel is inevitable. Such options include installing a later model ZF transmission for better gearing, but I think you might have bellhousing issues with that.

I have seen a unit called a Ranger overdrive which can be married to your manual trnasmission between the bellhousing and the transmission. It is advertised to be able to split all the gears in a manual transmission (typically the toploader 3 and 4 speeds).