buying new engine

I've found an engine that I would like to buy
He says it's a 5.7 vortec our of a 2000 3500hd pickup. Which my wikipedia research said it never came with that motor? But anyway, I'm supposed to buy it tommorow, and I had him send me some pics (which I attached) cause I don't really know what I'm doing, can someone help me please? :)
He said there is virtually no ridge and it ran great. The fuel injection is still there I just have to match up all the wire colors that he cut. $500, and he said there were 90k on it. Seems like a really good deal to me.

to the best of my knowledge the 3500 hd did not come with a 5.7. the standard was the 6.0 with the optional 6.6. i could be wrong and i am sure that one the guys here will know more than me about them. but i would do more research on it if i was you to make sure. if he is lying about that he might also be telling other lies.

ask him for a casting number

i had a 99 3500 hd with a 350 in it.

thanks geezer. never heard of them putting a 350 in there. learn something new here all the time.

can you guys tell from the pics if it seems ok? I'm not sure what to look for? Does it seem like a good deal for $500?

no its not a good deal--its apart, worn to where it needs to be rebuilt and you will have several hundred more dollars into it before your done---

Thanks so much for the help. what parts look worn, and how do you tell, just so I can learn.

Obviously something was wrong. He took it out and took it apart. Looks to be like it had a bad head gasket (rust between two cylinders And at the ridge of the right cylinder) and at least the head could be bad. Those heads are prone to cracking when over heated. All of this is guessing! You wont know till you get it cleaned up and checked. But $500.00 is not a good deal for YOU! I learned the hard way.

I didn't get your last messages in time to stop me, but it looks like it was a lucky oversight. I talked to a couple other guys who said to grab it, so I
bought the motor, took it to a machine shop, and it looks fantastic. No wear on anything that he can tell. Heads are not cracked etc. Looks like I lucked out and got an excellent deal. Water leaked from the intake into the oil (which the seller told me about), so the machinist suggested that I take it all apart if I want to be safe and check the bearings, but that's it.

My next question is in regards to a street/race/performance type motor that is good all around...This is going into a jeep, which I will offroad, but I would also like to hotrod it. I would like to copy a previous build to hopefully make it idiot proof. So, someone on this forum mentioned the "sledgehammer build" to me which looks awesome, and then I saw the "son of sledgehammer build", which generates even more hp.. but, the torque band isn't as wide or broad. So, for a streetable or fun motor, I would rather have the widest or largest torque band vs just more hp? Is that correct, or someone please set me straight :confused: