About a month ago I picked up a project truck, a 1982 Dodge D150 with the slant six. I ordered the Doug Dutra rebuild book and have watched the Uncle Tony's YouTube videos multiple times on the slant six rebuild, and it seems like a project I can attempt myself. I'm pretty mechanically inclined and own most of the tools I will need, so I bought the engine lift and stand, and have now pulled the engine.
I have to do this rebuild slowly as I do not have a blank check to just order all of the parts I need in one shot. I'll be buying what I can as my budget allows me to. My other hobby of having 4 kids eats up most of my funds.

I will be cleaning everything that will be re-used and painting the block. I have my parts list of most of what I should need for this rebuild saved in my Rock Auto account.

My question is, once I start tearing down the engine, how should I store the block, heads, crank, etc?

While in the rebuild stage, is the truck inside, like in a dry garage? If so you can use trash bags to contain the large items and store them in the bed of the truck. If the truck is not being stored inside,
you will need to find inside storage for the bagged components.
For the smaller parts, bolts, washers, valve springs, retainers,,,use baggies, sandwich size up to the gallon size and no matter how obvious the item may seem when you disassemble it, place a post it note with a description of the use of the item in each bag. Have each bag contain a single category of parts: motor mount bolts, water pump bolts, flywheel bolts,,,,. I bag and ID all the small stuff during the disassembly process, then go back later and clean and re-bag and re ID the items.
To inhibit rust, a liberal spray of WD-40 works, Or the Eastwood Company has other products.

Be sure to register your vehicle for the RockAuto manufactures close outs. They have some unbeatable pricing with those.

Personally, for me, it is ok to buy things ahead and store them to take advantage of sales and good deals, but I would not do any major disassembly or engine removal until I was in position to complete the re build and re assembly. Especially for your first big project. The re assembly will go much smoother if the disassemble was in the recent past. Plus, priorities change, nothing worse than a non running disassembled vehicle just taking up space if you find you have new goals.

_________________
Doo Ron Ron and the Duke of Earl are friends of mine.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX8Nj8ABEI8

DadTruck, great tips, thank you. Currently the truck is outside and engine inside the garage on a stand. I started the bag and labeling process with the first bolt I removed, there's no way I can remember it all without that. The Rock Auto tip is a huge one, thanks again for that. I have been leaning towards just liberally spraying WD-40 on anything I can on the engine, covering all holes and waiting to disassemble until I have all of the parts as well.

The good thing is that I am in no hurry, I don't rely on the truck for transportation and its not really taking up space that I need in the immediate future.
Even if I had a completely rebuilt engine, there are so many other things to do, I wouldn't be able to drive it yet anyway.
I know for sure it needs fuel lines, and the tank cleaned, then I need to slowly go thru everything else.
I've done tons of repairs on vehicles throughout the years I have just never needed to rebuild an engine before, so I'm really looking forward to the process.

Thanks again for taking the time to offer some advice.

The most valuable tool you can use during a teardown or reassembly, other than the human brain and a can of salted cashews, is the digital camera.

GregCon, that’s very true. I’m taking a ton of pics along the way. Pretty much every part has a before and after pic.

I bought replacement brake/fuel lines for my ‘83 D150 from Inline Tube and they fit great.

Another great tool is a Factory Service Manual, they show up on e bay from time to time and there may also be re prints available. There are also sites that have them published on line.
The FSM is really helpful if you get into the wiring.

_________________
Doo Ron Ron and the Duke of Earl are friends of mine.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX8Nj8ABEI8

I recently got a 85 D 150 also with a slant 6 for power.got it running and driving again, straightened out the botched wiring, pulled out the clogged cat, replaced the back brakes, replaced the seat, did the lean burn delete, then had to steal the carb to get my son's truck outta here.(I just bought that carb a month ago)
I have a super 6 setup here that I am wanting to put on to it (except for the carb) but I was wanting to save that for the fresh engine that is now at the machine shop, I'm waiting to hear back regarding what over/undersized parts I'll need to get.... hopefully I can salvage 1 good carb out of the 3 that I have here just to get it mobile again for now.

Thanks for that website. I'll keep checking back on them, they are out of stock for my fuel lines.

I'm really looking forward to hearing this one run, good luck with your projects.