How stock is the motor? (carb, intake, etc)
how many miles on the engine?
the tick is pretty common on all ford V8s.

Did you do the timing chain check?
have you checked stock timing (with vac line off and plugged) with a light? When you hook up the vac line to the dist again, does timing advance? (as seen with the light)?
Firing order is cast into the intake manifold. #1 cyl is the one farthest forward when looking straight down on the engine from in front of the car.
I assume you have points, right? Clean and properly gapped? is your condenser good? are you sure? How did you set the points? Do yo uhave a dwell meter to check that?
Did you get the right coil? (elec ign and points ign use different coils.) Did you get the + and - connections right? (wrong will run, but not well)

chris