Whats up guys. New to the forum. I have been reading here for months and I am now ready to start my build. I have a 78 F100 Ranger SWB, it has the 5.6 351M motor all stock, automatic I believe it is a C4 tranny. I have been wanting to build this for a couple of years and I am finally ready to start. I am posting this thread as a place for me to post about the build progress and also to ask questions if I can. I have some experience with 101 mechanics, fluids, filters, plugs, water pumps, alternators, etc. but I have never done anything like this. I learn everything from either youtube or just reading online.

I am building this to be a fun daily. I want reliability, driveability and fun...im expecting to pay for it at the pump and thats okay. I am planning on doing cam, lifters, springs, timing set, ignition, intake manifold and carb all right now, then headers and exhaust once its broken in. Not set on exact parts yet so suggestions are helpful. I am thinking maybe a Comp Cams Thumpr kit part number k32-600-5 (has lifters, valve train, cam, and timing set for $460 on summit. Weiand performer plus intake manifold $224 on summit. Still havent decided about the ignition, carb or exhaust.

So far I have pulled most of the easy stuff. I have the radiator and fan removed, the power steering pump bracket removed from the block, air pump and bracket off, alternator and bracket off, carb and EGR with all vaccuum lines are pulled, plugs, wires are pulled. Fluids are all drained other than the trans, ill be doing that in the next day or two. I unbolted the intake manifold to find that the head cover gaskets are too wide to allow me to pull the intake off. So I pulled the head covers and removed the gasket but now the intake manifold is stuck because of the distributer. The springs, whats visible of the rods and the arms on the heads look good to the naked eye, all solid with little to zero movement.

I am about to pull the distributer. Not sure if I should wait until I pull the water pump and timing cover, does it matter? I have read that the distributer can be a pain in the ***. Either way I am going to pull the distributer and water pump hopefully today. I am also going to attempt to remove the heater/ac black housing box that is in the engine bay. I know this will leave a large hole in the firewall but its huge and in the way of the passenger side heads so its gotta go. Maybe this winter ill put an in cab heat system or something. I cant find any good tutorials or instructions about how to remove this box so im just gonna get at it and see. Ill take pics and post em on here.

I am trying to focus on researching what combination of parts to get so I can order everything. With the cam kit, should I get an all inclusive one with lifters, springs, locks, seals, timing chain, like the one I listed above? or should I just go with a cam and lifter set, seperate timing kit, and separate springs? The kit is $460.
Is the Weiand intake good or should I spring for the extra $50 and get the edelbrock performer? I will not have any emmissions equiptment, my state does not require them. I am going to stick with the stock 351m 2v heads by the way and just have them rebuilt by a shop.
I have read a bunch about carbs and I think I understand the basics. I am thinking a 650cfm, electric choke, vaccum secondary 4bbl. I know I need to make sure that it is compatible with ford automatic kick down. Any affordable suggestions?
The ignition is straight up throwing me for a loop. Currently the ignition box is some off brand that the previous owner put in. I believe the rest is stock. What is the difference between HEI and other distributers? Im looking for affordable but good options for an ignition set up.
I know that the common suggestion is to drop a 4.0 crank and make it a 400 but I dont want to pull the engine completely and I think I can build this 5.6L well enough for me to enjoy. Ill take some pics and post them here when I am done working on it today. Thanks in advance for the help.