Diesel Bombers - The do everything Rig

Not quite sure how this web site works. I bought this nice 1997 Burb from the original owner. About two months ago it started to smoke (white) and chug on start up. the problems got worse over time. It has never not started but then it also started to have a hard time going over 2000 rpm and lacked any power.(gray smoke at this time) After it warmed up (full operating temp) it would run fine. (no smoke, good power almost what it use to be) The Burb has never died on us. I have found while working on it that the first owner was not as up front about what he did to it as he led us to believe.

The check engine light came on a while back but it ran fine. We took it to a few diesel shops and were shocked when we were told they wouldn't work on it.

Quick sob story ; I was injured at work then shortly after laid off. I have been off work for almost 2 years recovering from the injury so money is tight. Working on this thing is difficult and slow for me. So I have to make good choices with the money I spend on this vehicle.

I looked through the huge pile of paper work that the previous owner gave us and found that there was nothing supporting ever replacing the glow plugs or injectors. He did get a cheep pump controller at 172,000 miles. It now has 200k.

What I have done so far:
Gotten codes. there were 3. One for the turbo boost. Traced to faulty vacuum pump. replaced it and light went out.
2nd code was for grounds. took apart all the grounds that I could find and cleaned them.
3rd code was faulty check engine light. It went out so...

Also found that the lift pump wasn't pumping at all. and replaced it. Also replaced fuel filter. Packed full of sediment.
Replaced glow plug set. (now it starts quickly but still smokes (white) on start up)
Replaced engine temp sensor.
So far everything has had varying degrees of improvement.

At this point I'm thinking it needs injectors.
Also it seems to need another controller. The cruise control quit working recently together with the performance while cold at 1800 to 2200 rpm. This is intermittent.

This site has been very helpful and has made working on this thing kind of fun but my wife has told me that I need to figure this thing out or get rid of it. Any input would be helpful.