One thing sorely lacking in too much of our society is the apprentice. Schooling is great but a diploma is really only a license to learn. As a young mechanic you should have the basic skills necessary to do the work. What you lack is experience. Regardless of what engine you decide to tear into, you need someone that knows how to do it and do it right looking over your shoulder, mentoring you. I know it sounds confining to us when we're young, but I know if it hadn't been for some guys like my dad in my life I'd have made more screwups putting things together than I could have afforded to fix.
Having said that, diesels are less forgiving of "almost right" than most gas stuff. Your Machine shop can help you with inspecting parts upon tear down. This is especially important if the engine you tear down is anything other than just tired. If you pull the pan and find a bucket full of parts in the sump then you are no longer performing just a tear down, you're performing an autopsy. You must know the cause of death. And the shop can ensure the parts are clean and in spec when they leave the shop. If you are meticulous and keep a clean shop you can put anything together and have a high probability it will run. Remember also that many a perfectly rebuilt engine has been destroyed by failing to adequately inspect such things as injectors, induction systems, turbos, radiator, etc., really anything that returns to the engine. In other words a successful overhaul in more than just the internals.
If you cannot find someone to apprentice under on your first engine, follow the overhaul manual to a tee and if anything deviates, STOP, take a picture, post it here and someone that knows will advise you.
Just some things to think about, good luck with whatever you decide to do.
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Today's Featured Article - Third Brush Generators - by Chris Pratt. While I love straightening sheet metal, cleaning, and painting old tractors, I use every excuse to avoid working on the on the electrics. I find the whole process sheer mystery. I have picked up and attempted to read every auto and farm electrics book with no improvement in the situation. They all seem to start with a chapter entitled "Theory of Electricity". After a few paragraphs I usually close the book and go back to banging out dents. A good friend and I were recently discussing our tractor electrical systems when he stated "I figure it all comes back to applying Ohms Law". At this point
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