In early Feb I decided to take my 86 300SDL with 221,000 mi in to get the head gasket replaced, as it was blown out at the front of the timing chain cover. Lo and behold, the cylinder is cracked. Good ole #14. I'm been on a search now for 2 months for a used replacement, but all 5 candidates found now have show signs of cracking or pitting, mostly #14s and a single #17.

The latest candidate is a 603.016.20.01 attached to an entire pulled engine, sans exhaust manifold and turbo. Owner is asking $350 for the entire engine, and is not interesting in pulling the head.

Is there any sense in trying to haggle the price down to $300, and then hope for a good cylinder head, with the thought that if its not, I could sell other parts of the engine to get back to zero on my wager?

Any thoughts on looking for signs of a cracked cylinder head on an non-running engine?