OP, since this is from a pickup, put a piston at the top of it's stroke and very carefully measure down from the block deck to the piston top. What you want to avoid is the low compression truck pistons; the typical compression is low for a 318 but the truck pistons are reeeeally low. With your cam selection (which IMHO is too large for street cruising with stock 318 parts) and rear gear, this thing is going to be struggling to get moving. Loosing any compression is just going to make that worse.
As for the hone and new rings, well you ARE on a budget. What you need to look out for is the wear in the bores (overall wear, taper and out-of-roundness), and the wear on the ring lands on the pistons. If the bore is worn too much or the ring lands are worn, new rings are never going to seal well. Let us know if you need any info on measuring those parameters.
Yes, for sure buy the adjustable timing sprockets. I would be looking to advance the cam in a low compression engine.
BTW, a lot of answers will vary on how you plan to use this engine/car. Can you tell us if this is for cruising, drag racing, road racing/autocross, hauling potatoes, or...??
