Couple questions about my 64 long stepside

[FAT TONY]

ok so ive recently gave up on my project truck mainly because i cant figure out what was wrong with the engine but today i drove it around the neighborhood and man ive got to say it did feel good, so ive decided to give it another try

First of all i got some new rims and tires for my truck but the studs seem to be to little and the lug nuts only catch a little bit of thread and others don't catch at all so i was trying to fix that to get it inspected but when i went to remove the brake drum it wouldn't come off the back ones came off with no problem but the front ones no matter how much i tried they just wouldn't budge, is there any thing special i have to do in order to remove it or what?

second the line between the sending unit and the actual fuel line is leaking is there a certain gasket that it is suppose to have?

third when i start the truck it sounds rough but after about five minutes it sounds pretty good, what could be the cause of that?

fourth the nuts that hold down the wood in the bed are square, is there some type of tool i could use to remove them?, i tried pliers but i think its to rusted to just use pliers and the bolts aren't damaged so i was hoping i could save them and not have to take a grinder to them for them to come off.

and number five , the reason i lost hope for my truck is the ticking sound that comes from the block, it comes and goes some times it sounds like a hollow knocking and others its more like a ticking, at first i thought it was the lifters that went bad so i bought some new ones but i didn't buy the new camshaft but im starting to think the problem might be in the crankshaft bearing but im no master mechanic so i really don't know, ive taken it to actual master mechanics and they weren't able to figure it out either, their only advise was to just rebuild the hole engine and not have to worry about it any more, my only problem is im still in high school and don't have a job, and im thinking it would take more than a couple hundred dollars (which i don't have) to rebuild an engine, its a 230 l6 im guessing since its a small engine it shouldn't be to hard to rebuild it myself but once again im no mechanic so i wouldn't want to mess something up

any advise will be helpful