Last weekend I pulled the vale cover and striped the cracked buildup of paint. Spent 4 hours cleaning and sanding and three coats of gloss black engine paint. I made up a extension with a cutoff valve for the cylinder pressure. Pressurized the first cylinder and heard a hissing sound coming from the crankcase. # 1 and 2 are leaking down and # 4 intake cam lobe is wiped out. I put it back together and it runs fine but the oil at 3k smells like 50k. My guess is the head gasket is leaking into the oil passage and the breakdown of the oil cause the cam to go. I just got this car in October and knowing what I know now I doubt if it was serviced regularly. 87 300E 128K

I though I got a good deal at 5K with a 6month warranty. Then 20days later the transmission went and I found out the dealer never sent the money to the warranty company. 2k for the transmission and 7 hundred to the lawyer. Add another 5 hundred for parts and a hundred hours of my time cleaning and servicing The car is ivory and looks great from 5 feet way but closer it’s not a cream puff (the color hides many sins).
Let this be a lesson to nubees I owned my own shop for 12 years.

I found a rebuilt head complete with cam and lifters. The question is do I continue throwing money into this or should I start over now that I know what a good 300e looks like. What is my old head worth as a core?