A guy has to decide on a budget first, unless money is no object. What are his intentions for it and so on. How did it run before it quit? I think you said the gauge cluster did not work? Did it overheat and shut down? Have good fuel pressure? Oil pressure? Your problem may only be electrical and as simple as a bad ground wire or fuel pump relay. Usually there are ground wires attached to the rear of each head and they could be overlooked in an engine swap.
Salvage yard or reman'd or new crate engine. Price range is wide open. Summit, Jegs and others have a lineup of engines and you can buy a reman'd engine from a local parts store. If a guy is mechanically competent he can save some money by having a shop do the machining and assemble it himself. Looking at the cost of new trucks, and the fact you have a good truck body and frame, I'd be looking to locate a good used engine, provided of course your engine is toast. There is not much of a warranty with salvage yard engines, if any.
I am curious to see if you can make it run again.
Salvage yard or reman'd or new crate engine. Price range is wide open. Summit, Jegs and others have a lineup of engines and you can buy a reman'd engine from a local parts store. If a guy is mechanically competent he can save some money by having a shop do the machining and assemble it himself. Looking at the cost of new trucks, and the fact you have a good truck body and frame, I'd be looking to locate a good used engine, provided of course your engine is toast. There is not much of a warranty with salvage yard engines, if any.
I am curious to see if you can make it run again.