I bought a 1985 ford with a 8.2 turbo detroit. I know of the issues most people have with blowing head gaskets. Silly design but it was detroits first attempt with a four stroke. Im having a hard time finding all the specs on. It has a spicer 10 speed and eaton rear end. It only has a little over 200 hundred horse power and would like to juice it up a little. These engines run at such a high rpm and honestly dont like it. Im going to run it til it dies but it really has been a dependable dump despite its history. I was thinking of giving it a better turbo or bigger injectors. Id love to hear other people personal experiences with the engine and like to find better specs on it.
My personal opinion. I would not lay a finger on that thing or put any unnecessary money in it. I would be making money with it as fast as possible to buy a truck to replace it with. You can not depend on those things after 30+ years and they were no good when new. If it is an occasional use truck then that is a different story. But if you rely on it it is going to leave you high and dry eventually.
I have a little experience with one, they are a pain to tune up for sure. If it has the updated 15 mm head bolts that is a plus but doesn't mean it will hold a head gasket. People say if they are running fine don't touch them and I agree.
I have had three of them over the years. Never did anything to them except run away when I started them and wait for the smoke to clear. Not a ton of power but no diesel I have ever had could go as far on such a small amount of fuel. I would have to agree with jpv. If it's working fine I wouldn't touch it. Use it till she quits. Any attempt to get more ponies out of it will also make it less reliable and it's already got a bad rep for reliability. Just my two cents.