I am probably the right guy to answer most of your questions since I have
been driving a 1969 164 since 1971 and have encountered most of the problems
you cite. I'll deal with them one by one.

"the carburettors (twin Strombergs) were leaky. The car smelt like it ran very rich. Can worn out carburettors make it that bad?"
Absolutely. 400 Euros sounds like a lot to fix though. If it were mine I would
find a pair of good SU HIF6 carbs and throw the Strombergs in the trash. Unless
you are planning to use LPG I would take that system off. You should be able to
find a pair of HIF6 carbs and get them fixed up (new seals, float valves) for
a LOT less than that. Minor mods may be required to the aircleaner box to bolt
up.

"Most notably, I wondered whether this car would be suffering from the'flat cam lobe' syndrome."
It is a distinct possibility. You can check fairly easily by pulling the valve
cover and measuring the lift of each valve from the top head surface to the
valve spring retainer both closed and fully open. They should all be around
9.5 mm and they should all be the same. If one or more is different, you have
a bad cam. I assume you are in Europe, so a good replacement cam will be
easier to get. The OEM "D" cam would be ideal for your engine and will give
additional power. Be sure and put in new lifters and be sure they are
adequately lubricated and free to rotate in their bores. Especially if the
car does not have air conditioning, the cam can be replaced without pulling the
engine.

"However the right stalk on the steering column was missing. (The mechanism for it seemed to still be inside the column.)"
That is a pretty good indication that the handle has been broken off. Look
under the car and see if there is a rugby-sized item on the rear of the tranny.
That would be the Laycock-DeNormanville J-type overdrive unit.

"turn signals operated by that stalk as well, or are they operated from a stalk on the left?"
Turn signals and dipswitch are on the handle on the left.

"Is this a sign of a cheaper repaint?"
It is certainly NOT a sign of a first-class job!

" 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?"
My guess is that 90% or more of the 140s and 164s have this problem. It is most
likely the tiny brake lines that swell shut and act like a check valve. Pedal
pressure is plenty to open them up and give good braking but there is no
pressure back to allow the brake fluid to flow back to the master cylinder
through the swollen place. A new brake hose at that wheel (preferably
something better than OEM) will in all likelihood solve this problem or at
least render it easily soluble.

You didn't cite the mileage on this car, and I'm not sure what the exchange
rate is to USD but it sounds like a pretty high price to me, at least for
anyplace in the US for anything but a pretty well restored, low mileage car.
If it has no rust I could see it going for maybe US$2000. They may be worth
a lot more wherever you are.




--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Central US