Thanks for your quick help:

Am pursuing solutions with eBay, and trying to work something out with the seller. I knew, of course, that buying unseen has its risks. It might be easier checking out cars in person in areas where they are plentiful...very few '80s diesels come up for sale in MN, from what I've experienced, and the ones that do are pretty rusty. I thought I had hedged my bet by buying from a seller with great feedback, who has a good reputation as a restorer of another make of car, who has many diesel MBs, and who is a member of this forum.

It seems to sound pretty good when it runs...I have gotten used to my 11 year old Ford Ranger, though, so "good" to my ears might be suspect. The power seems ok, too.

Tea kettle test: cap didn't fly off, jiggled less than a pressure cooker weight, but danced vigorously.

I'm in Bethlehem, PA (near Allentown, 1.5 hours n of Philly).

As far as driving it, I guess my main concern is that there is so much oil in the air filter, which isn't filtering much air. Kerry: are you saying that it's fine to drive as is (with better tires)?

tg