I'm not a fan of the Cat 3208 engine. From what I've read, it was not well suited for school bus use; it was better suited for uses where it remained at operational temperature for long periods (12 hour shifts), not frequent start-up/shut-downs.
If the engine isn't otherwise in bad shape, it may behoove you to repair it. A swap (with a different style of engine) will be horribly expensive and time consuming. Installing a DT466 engine is very likely to require cutting of the firewall, as it is considerably longer than the 8.2. The transmission supports (if any) and driveshaft will need to be moved/shortened, respectively, and any wires/shifter may need to be lengthened. At what point does it become more feasible to simply buy a running bus with a DT466 already in it?
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