Amazing find, and the best deal ever

[ROLLGUY]

I saw this post Craigslist alert thread: and called my friend (Blue) that was looking for a transmission for his W115 Coupe. He called the seller, and told her that he would come and pick it up in a week. Fast forward to a couple days ago. Blue drove up there from L.A. in my 350SDL pulling his small trailer (his 300TD was at my house being fixed). When he got there, it was raining and the engine and trans were out in the back field with many obstacles in the way. It was also so muddy, they had to just wheel the trailer back on boards. There was supposed to be a hoist available, but it was found to be inoperable. Blue now had to figure out a way to get the engine/trans off of the bench it was on, and on the trailer. He was expecting a Diesel engine (listed in the ad), but after uncovering it, it was found to be a Fuel Injected 280! The lady that was responsible for cleaning the yard must not have known the value of what was there. That was another reason why it was only $20!
But wait, it gets better
Blue inspected the engine closer after getting it on the trailer, and it looked fairly new. He inquired about it from the lady, and she said it belonged to her father (I think that is what I remember hearing), and he told her to clean up the property (she rented from her father?). After getting it loaded and Blue getting out of the rain, he and the man (lived next door?) talked about the history of the engine and trans. He was a Mercedes-Benz mechanic years ago, and had a shop. He said the eng/trans came from a car they had years ago that they were restoring. He had actually rebuilt the entire engine (almost $4,000), but decided not to restore the rest of the car for some reason (rusted too bad?), and put the eng/trans out back under a tarp. When Blue got all done, he asked the man how much $ for the eng/trans, and he said $40. Blue said something like "you are telling me that you are only asking $40 for this engine that thousands of dollars were spent on rebuilding it?" The guy said something like "you did just spend the last two hours loading the engine in the mud and rain with very little help, and drove up here from L.A., so yes, just $40".
It gets even better.
When Blue was about to leave, the guy says wait, and he came back with the injection pump and handed it to Blue and said "you might want this too". He said it was rebuilt many years ago at a cost of $1,300. It had plastic caps on the delivery valves and other openings, and looked new. What started as a long trip to get a needed trans for his 115 coupe for only $20, turned out to be a gold mine of usable parts worth thousands of dollars. Way to go Blue!
Photo is of the engine at a place that does "Dry Ice Blasting" (more on that later).