Let's put a school bus engine in my truck

[lxpeery]

What's the resale value going to be like with a non-powerstroke motor? Is this swap something most diesel fanatics seem to understand?

The T444E is a Powerstroke, or I suppose it would be more accurate to say that the Powerstroke is a T444E. Ford contracted International to supply the 7.3, and it's the same motor minus a few changes to make it fit in the different chassis (like a different oil pan) and a different turbo. After that, it's all tuning. Ford runs them much harder than International, but plug a Ford PCM in and change the turbo and it runs exactly like it would have if it came in the truck. So as far as retail value goes, it is going to come down to how you sell it. Diesel people won't care either way, but tell the average Joe it's a school bus engine, and it probably wouldn't do well. Tell them it's a Powerstroke block straight from an International truck with low mileage that was detuned from the factory and it shouldn't hurt things. 

Taylor, the visible rust is just one bed rail. Current plan is to soak it in POR15 and keep a close eye on it. Everything else is fine, though the frame has clearly been painted and may be hiding worse gremlins. Passed the sledgehammer test though, so that's encouraging. If I end up keeping it longer than I'm expecting, I'll probably pull the bed and cab, replace the rails, and take a close look at the frame.

At this point, my biggest concern is the transmission. The B10 life on the Powerstroke is 200K miles, so it's incredibly unlikely that this engine would have failed at 188K. Which means that it was almost certainly tuned all to hell and beaten relentlessly. If it blew the motor, the transmission can't be feeling too great if it's original, and the 4R100 was never known for excessive longevity anyway. I'm going to look for a remanufactured badge when I'm putting the motor back in and hope for the best. Just needs to hold up for a few months until I can sell it. 

On the bright side, none of my trucks are financed, so when I sell them all I should have a nice chunk of cash to roll into something better.