First time Custom Kernel help - No suck file of directory

["John Purser" <jmpurser2@home.com>]

Good Morning,

I've been down with a cold, up with antihistamines, and whacked out on cough
syrup for a few days so I figured I'd build my first custom kernel.
Strangely enough I find I need some help.

A little history:
I'm running woody and a 2.4.9 kernel that I installed from
kernel-image-2.4.9-686.
Then I pulled the source .deb, unzipped it in /usr/src/kernel-source-2.4.9.
I made a symbolic link from /usr/src/linux to /usr/src/kernel-source-2.4.9.
As root I cd'd to /usr/src/kernel-source-2.4.9 and ran make config and
discovered I didn't have make installed.
Installed make and ran make config again.
Finishing make config gives you the message to run make dep.
I ran make dep and discovered I didn't have gcc installed.
I installed gcc.
Now when I run make dep I get a substantial number of "No such file or
directory" errors in this format:
	scripts/mkdep.c:33: ctype.h: No such file or directory
These error messages are all related to include lines in the script and I've
found the *.h files but obviously they're not where the program is expecting
them.
Then the process errors out with this message:
	make: *** [scripts/mkdep] Error 1

1. Can anyone tell me what I've done wrong and how I go about fixing it?  In
my fumblings I've run apt-get dist-upgrade and checked that I have the
correct versions of the programs from the kernel source documentation.

2. Once upon a time I ran across a tutorial on building a custom Kernel the
debian way but I can no longer find it.  Has anyone seen a good one they
could steer me to?

3. When I read the error messages the voice in my head sounds like Apu from
the Simpsons and this cannot be a good thing oh no!  Please to be telling
where the setting is to change this perhaps to Jessica Rabbit!

Thanks,

John Purser