Budget and intended use would be helpful to know. Looking forward to seeing what you end up building. Good luck.

Primarily a track day car...but state inspection legal. I realize a coyote swap is likely over 10k...if you can find a reasonable gen 1. Lots of 4.6 replacements out there. Maybe new/used with phaser lockout, hi press/volume oil pump and baffled race pan....

Phaser lockout seems to be more popular with the straight line folks. Great for one specific purpose but not great for all.
Not sure what is needed to pass inspection in NJ. Rural Illinois has no inspection requirements so tweaking is a bit easier here.
There are a few members who have put a coyote in an older chassis without killing the budget. They should chime in soon and share their lessons learned. Good luck with your build.

BTW…..Welcome to the site!

OK, how many miles on the car? Also did any of the valves actually contact the piston tops? These engines are pretty bullet proof. When you say you found a piece of the guide in the pan, did you pull the pan off, or saw it via the drain hole?.
I say this because you may not need a new engine, you might get away with replacing the timing chain and oil pump.

Around 140K miles. Car did indeed oil starve then proceed to eat itself. 4 spun rods, half of which are bent, oil pickup full of metal and that timing guide piece was in the oil pan...yeah, we pulled the pan. Having block inspected, I think the heads are good. Choice is either "maybe" stroke the 4.6 or 5.4 block...or, just a stock rebuild. As I understand it, the 5.4 block is iron which would put about an additional 100 lbs over the front wheels. So in essence, Its a rebuild. It'll be interesting to say the least....