After my first post I tried
this guide too. I followed the steps word for word, but the kernel produced was not bootable saying the image was not found.
I did try the 'make modules' command with the steps in the first link I used. That generated a few more modules after booting back in, but not nearly what I need.
I'm not opposed to trying a static kernel, but it seems every link I find is missing steps, outdated or just garbage. If someone could just point me to steps that actually work, that's probably what I need.