Also on the electrical gremlin thing, I had a 1993 gmc step side pickup, that the interior caught on fire due to some electrical short inside the cab. It happened almost a year after I got it stuck pretty bad. I didn't submerge it like yours, but did get some water on the floor boards. Truck was pulled out the water within a couple hours of getting stuck. Cleaned her all up and I thought she was good as new, no bad smell everything working running great. Several months later I was in the parking lot of my work. I went to leave for lunch, hit the door unlock and nothing, no sounds. The windows were darkly tinted so I could not see inside. I opened the door with the key to find the entire interior burned and melted. Once fresh air entered the cab from me opening the door it started to smolder again so I slammed the door and called the fire department. After a good long laugh on their part they told me the fire was out, but had a hard time determining the source. The truck sat in the parking lot at my work for a week until I figured out what to do. I didn't owe anything on the truck and at the time I really wanted to keep it. Friends told me not to try to re-wire everything because of all the unknowns. So I called the insurance and they totaled it, but I got $3000 more that I thought the trucks was worth. My gmc dealer did a complete investigation of the fire to try and determine the source and the best they could determine was that several of the wires showed signs of corrosion and melted the insulation of the wires under load and that started a short which started the fire and cause the rest of the damage. Gmc set me up with a new truck for well under invoice, I think primarily to keep me in the brand, suspecting if might buy something else considering what happened. The point is, I would have never imagined a wire corroding inside the insulation, but it did and I was fortunate it did not happen while I was in the truck.
I am glad to see you seriously considering other options, engine issue aside, I would be more concerned about the electrical issues as they are much harder to diagnose, trouble shoot and repair. Trust me, my family has been in telecommunications since the 30s and I have seen many issues first hand, moisture reeks havoc on electrical components. If the connections are not protected/sealed with jelly, moisture will find a way to get in and yes copper does corrode. What do you think that green patina is on copper, imagine that on a thin braided/stranded cable.
