Looking for help performing a MTB conversion to drop bar setup.

Thanks to suggestions on another thread here, I recently purchased a Bridgestone MB-2. It is for my son who will use it primarily to commute to school, but also with a San Francisco to Santa Barbara trip next summer. The bike is is fair shape, everything functional. Pics to follow tomorrow when it is light out.

I did some searching and found some good info on performing the overhaul - http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ng-an-Overhaul
As well as tips on fixing dmaged paint - http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...touch-up-paint

I am looking for advice on the conversion part. That is, picking out and getting drop bars, brake levers and shifters. I know there is a ton of personal preference here. My approach would be to keep make the bike similar to the one I have, which has bar end shifters and brake levers. I have only tried brifters once and they seemed pretty loosy goosy, but maybe you get used to that. I would prefer indexed shifters, but I am not sure if they are available for this 6 speed cassette. Also don't know if a 7 speed cassette would fit on this wheel.

Tips and advice n this area is appreciated. I did I have not seen any bar end shifters (aka bar con? ) that are less than 9 speed yet. Am I correct in believing the shift distance for a 8 speed would not work with a 6 or even 7 speed setup? Don't mind asking the dumb questions once . . .

One more question, I have seen bikes that have levers on the drops as well as on the tops of the bars, which looks interesting. Not sure I actually want to implement this, but would be curious to learn about how it works/is set up.