The fact the seller is too lazy to put the fact it's a cat D in his ad would put me off its not something you leave out.

I've had a few Cat D cars and nothin wrong with that I prefer to buy them knowing what the damage was and when ( ideally with a photo so you can see the extent of the damage and how good the repair was).

It makes them much harder to sell but if you have photos of what was done it helps when selling. On a normal car you are looking at 25 to 30% less for a cat D with one of these maybe a bit less if it's bad lots of other good stuff done since it was put on the register.

Having an engine out of an escort doesn't make any difference other than it might be 3 or 4 years newer but if it's been rebuilt previously does not matter.