Ok, thanks for explaining. Most of my engine building experience has been on 302's and 351's, where they're much more "plug and play" as far as information on available combinations of what's safe and isnt. Is there anything special about "breaking in" an FE, as opposed to a Windsor?

 

All of these principles apply to any gas engine. I'd say the main thing on your planning is careful measurement of what's currently in the block when you tear in apart. 360 rods vs 390 rods. Which stroke crank do you have? Researching your machine shops for one that's done FEs before etc.
The piece of advice I was given on FE hydraulic cam break-in was- set the engine to 20 degrees BTDC on #1 cylinder and drop in your distributor as normal after you prime your oil pump. It should light right off, run it ~2000rpm for 20 minutes keeping a eye on the oil pressure and engine temp the whole time. Anything goes sideways shut it down, fix it and continue on. Have some box fans handy, garden hose ready and make sure you run some extra zinc in the oil. Oil formulated for break-in is also a deal nowadays too but again a whoooooole other ball of wax. Invest $35 in an oil filter cutter to inspect the filter after running it and oil changes for good piece of mind.
FE is/ has been becoming as "plug and play" as all other Ford models lately. Engine Masters Challenge winners have been either a FE, Y-block or Windsor many, many more times than any other manufacturer so aftermarket is there and more new stuff being developed.

I highly recommend purchasing Barry Rabotnick's two FE books as well as Jay Brown's Great Intake Comparo for all the FE build info you'd ever want as a new guy to FE. I'm still a new guy to them too since there's sooo much more knowledge and experience over 7+ decades of FE powah!