Hi all!

I'm contemplating the acquisition of a 1970 164. After going to see the car, a few questions popped up in my mind.

In general the car seemed to be in fair-to-good condition: no rust, repainted in original color a few years ago, interior (mostly seats) well worn but not torn, generally original except for the LPG installation. I didn't make a test drive, just saw the car go forward and backward 10-20 meters in the garage with no strange sounds. The owner didn't seem keen on a test drive "because it was not registered, insured, etc.".

* The engine seems to have good power, but the idle was pretty sorry, almost stalling a few times. According to the owner, the engine was rebuilt, but the carburettors (twin Strombergs) were leaky. The car smelt like it ran very rich. Can worn out carburettors make it that bad? (I never dealt with dual carburettors before.) Reconditioning them would amount to at least a 400 euro invoice, so I would like to be as sure as possible this is the only flaw on the engine. Most notably, I wondered whether this car would be suffering from the "flat cam lobe" syndrome.

* According to the owner, the car has an overdrive. However the right stalk on the steering column was missing. (The mechanism for it seemed to still be inside the column.) Disregarding whether it has overdrive or not for now, are the turn signals operated by that stalk as well, or are they operated from a stalk on the left? Stupid, I know, but I simply forgot to check if there was a stalk there...
(Also, assuming no overdrive, would the turn signals still be operated by a stalk on the left?)

* The door handles are painted in the body color (dark blue). Is this a sign of a cheaper repaint? (The owner seemed proud of the repaint, I thought it looked fair but certainly not top-notch.)

* One rear brake seemed to drag; hard enough to make the car impossible to push forward by hand. Considering it has not been driven for about one year, is this hard to fix (like taking out the brake pads and trying to twist or push in the pistons)? Or would it be best to trailer it to the mechanic's? I would bring it in to have the brakes looked over anyway. (The problem is that I nor any of my close relatives or friends have a car with a trailer hitch, otherwise renting a trailer would be easy enough.)

In general the owner did point out several weaknesses of the car, but I found other, smaller things that he would minimize. No deal breakers though, as of yet... Obviously no money will change hands before I make a real test drive and try out all the accessories, but I would like to know these things so I can decide whether to further pursue this car or not. Also, I think the price would have to come down a bit: 5500 euros for a decent but mechanically challenged car with 1000-1500 euros work before it is drivable sounds like a lot to me.

Thanks!