Advice on buying junkyard engines?

On the '97 Ford, did it hydraulically lock-up when it "blew-up"? Or rather, how did it "blow-up"? I ask only because of the known issues with the earlier 4.2's, and if this were mine, I'd try to find a later year engine and swap-over the accessories as necessary.

And as others have stated, it would be preferable to hear it run before putting down the cash.
Head gasket went at somewhere around 164K miles. I had lent it to a friend, and she's not a car person. She went out to start it and it started clanking, then white smoke. She said she smelled "a sweet smell" a couple days before, which was obviously coolant going through the exhaust. I wasn't aware that the 4.2Ls had a known issue with that until I started researching. I trailered it home and dumped it in the barn. It's an otherwise solid truck with no rust, so a few hundred bucks and some labor would be worth it. If I have to put more than about $500 into it, I'll just take it to the scrap yard.