So now that you are getting lined out on what you need. Let's shift the direction towards a way to carry said tools. And just as an important topic, IMO a soft sided tool bag sure is nice to put behind the seat.

Now yes these are high dollar, but are great examples for a grab and go set up. A soft bag will not scratch paint going behind the seat or slide around back there. Also will confirm on top of any thing else back there. A hard tool box wil not.
https://www.atlas46.com/products.htm...=0&sort=normal

Amazon and even Walmart have some ok stuff.
When I cruise the pawn shops (carefully looking for tool deals) I shop for the one or two brand name singles hid in the pile of junk tools and get an extra Dewalt or Craftsman bag ever so often. A bad as it sounds I spray paint all the tools in my rock crawler trail bag. Bright road worker green or orange make them easy to find and not so apt to walk off.

Christmas nice box you have going on there. I notice a JB Custom Fab sticker? What did you get from them? Twin stick set up?

 

1977 5-volume set in pdf: https://www.fordshopmanual.com/ford-...-pdf-download/

 

Gather a full set of sae and metric you need both youl find there is no such thing as a full set.



Jack stands floor jack sledge hammer are the most used tools

 

Others have pretty well covered the suggested tools to buy. Harbor Freight has been mentioned several times, but I'm just not a fan, and that's because I have been disappointed on numerous occasions. Good tools are not so much a purchase as an investment. That said, there is a huge disparity in price, and in quality. I acquired a fair amount of Craftsman tools over the years. But the Craftsman tools of yesteryear are gone, and what is currently sold under that name is nowhere near the same quality.

Snap On is certainly the gold standard of tools, but their prices are simply jaw dropping. (My reaction to seeing their prices is often YGTBSM!) So the question becomes what tool brand offers high quality tools at reasonable prices? As I said above I'm just not a fan of Harbor Freight. Their Icon line of tools are high quality, but the additional cost over their Pittsburg line is hard to justify. Most tool companies have their tools made for them by various suppliers and Harbor Freight seems to get darn near everything from China. In addition, they change suppliers fairly frequently so when you break a tool, the replacement may not look like the rest of the set.

My go-to brand is now Tekton. They are a US company headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan and they get the vast majority of their tools made in the US or Taiwan, with some made in China. Tekton sells direct to the consumer and their tools can be found at various retail stores, to include Amazon.com. If you buy direct from Tekton you will get free shipping on orders, over $50 and you get a 10% rebate/credit toward future tool purchases. Tekton will send you emails periodically with specials on various tools. Their tools are well made and they come with a lifetime guarantee. I have found their customer service and warranty replacement to be exceptional. An email and a photo of the broken tool will get a new one headed your way almost immediately and without question.

In contrast I wanted to get a broken Craftsman socket replaced under warranty about two years ago. It was pure ***-pain. Lowes carries Craftsman stuff but they didn't have the socket in stock, so that was a wasted trip. They gave me a number to call and that conversation literally took 20 minutes (no exaggeration). I think most people would give up in disgust, but I persevered.

Lastly, you will be working underneath your truck at some point. Do not use concrete blocks and do not cheap out on jack stands. Buy good ones and use them properly - your life literally depends on them. Google "jack stand failure". Here is one link that popped up. I think it's worth your time to read it:

https://www.motortrend.com/news/harb...l-safety-tips/

 

Safety stuff like good jacks, jack stands, and a good fire extinguisher. Safety glasses too.

Ive got lots of stuff from harbor freight. Grinders sand blasters paint guns. I have paid dime store prices for that stuff from harbor freight. You’ll wear their hand tools out using them frequently. They also rust and just barely work as good as other brands. If money isn’t super tight I’d stay away from their sockets ratchets and wrenches.


A whole lot of wrenching has been done out of 5 gallon buckets. Get one for sockets ratchets extensions. One for screw drivers pliers misc.
The best way to buy tools is when you need them. Get a set of wrenches, 3/8 sockets, a half inch breaker bar and 5/8 - 15-16 or so 1/2 inch sockets. When you need another tool you’ll be working on something and think “you know what a suchandsuch would really help about right now. Or when you’re picking up parts at your parts store go through the repair in your head and think what tool you might need for that specific job.

Pliers are a buy once cry once. Channellock brand pliers are made in USA and rock. Get whatever pairs work for you big or small they will come in handy. Cheap pliers and vise grips DO NOT work like good ones but you don’t have to over pay for the good ones. And hardware store carries Channellock brand and they work.

Craigslist usually has some good tools. Tool boxes and vintage wrenches/ratchets and sockets usually abound.

Don’t believe what the parts counter guy says about almost anything. There’s a lot of great ones, but I can tell you stories where I have had a ton of money time and effort wasted because someone gave me the wrong part the wrong information the wrong anything.

If you need replacement parts bring your old parts in. Search their website beforehand and find what you want. Keep the part number handy and check and recheck whatever parts you get ordered or pick up. Keep your receipts.


Before you start a project run through the WHOLE thing in your head slowly and figure out what you need. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve run out of brake fluid grease painters tape tubing fasteners whatever. Make 1 trip into town.

Get a haynes and Chilton manual. Do whatever googling or reading it takes to understand ignition timing. Setting your base timing total timing centrifugal timing and the curve. Learn about carb tuning as much as you can. That comes with some practice.

Get a really good DIAL BACK timing light. I have a awesome digital model that can display voltage and rpms that makes it very easy to tune and get information.

 

Not sure about now days but the tool truck guy used to have trade ins once and awhile. Defiantly get the good safety things, good heavy jackstands and jacks. I have some Craftsman, Snap on and SK. Craftsman did become a pita since Sears moved out of our town. 6-point sockets and hand wrench's may be a little harder to use sometimes but can save you rounding off nuts and bolts. A good gasket scraper. Just some thoughts.

 

Walt Kowalski: Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone. All good suggestions above for sure. Biggest thing is fear not, it is only metal and paint all of it is plain enough to correct if you mess something up. 1/2 combo wrench (full SAE is best) and a good screw driver set will get you started. Go for it and lean on the guys on this forum who love to help. I see a couple of the best advisors are already responding to your post.

 

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/BK_7...&gclsrc=aw.ds&

And again the 1/2" combo wrench is all I need today for my projects. Maybe a bit of an exaggeration but if a fella had a 1/2" wrench and a can do attitude he could rebuild one of these trucks! LOL

 

If you go with a brand like Kobalt or Craftsman you will always be able to replace a bad tool easily. Don't skimp on pliers, screwdrivers, wrenches, sockets, and jack stands. A floor jack is 'way better than any Ford jack. Even a cheap HF multimeter comes in real handy. You said you have a soldering iron, I would add a Dremel tool (NOT the HF equivalent) - you won't need it often but when you do, nothing else works. Hand drill helps too. If you are not sure how many times you will use a tool, go brand name - few-time use is where HF is good. Buy a tool bag for your road tools (socket set, pliers, reversable screwdriver, combo wrenches, baling wire, duct and electrical tape, wiring pliers) - for road tools HF is OK, hopefully you never need them. At home tools you will use a lot - see above. One thing I find helps a lot no one has mentioned - cheap heat gun. I am amazed at how often that bloody thing comes in handy.