I was in the same boat you are a few years ago. I knew nothing about rebuilding an engine, but a friend convinced me to give it a try. I'm glad I did. It isn't that hard, and you will learn how your engine really works.
The special tools you will need are minimal a good torque wrench and a ring compressor is about all I bought. If you need anything else you can probably rent it from your FLAPS.
The nice thing about doing it your self is once you get it back from the machine shop you can make sure everything is well cleaned before you start your rebuild. Be sure to clean out all the oil galleys and every crook & cranney. Any left over metal debris will kill your engine in no time.
I say go for it you will be glad you did, and if you get in a bind we here on the Stovebolt site are always around to help.
By the way my truck has been finished (if they ever are)for about 5 years now with out any engine problems.
Good luck
George
