I’m letting this one go.

To the guys who have been working on it with me: the seller is quite unmotivated/uninterested. I tried to negotiate a bit (still allowing for a healthy profit for him) and he was not into that either. I found a nice example New Model S/A on the US side of the border for the same price that seems much better both mechanically and cosmetically. We will see what it’s like when it arrives.