if this were an exceptional deal, I'd say don't slow down, throw all caution to the wind, and find out whatever info you can and buy. BUT....it's an "OK" deal at best, so yes, like everyone says, slow down and take your time. If this guy is a friend, neighbor, whatever he is, he should give you first crack at it, and let you do a few days worth of research before you are forced into a decision. The truth is, there has been so much done to these cars over the years, that personally, i couldn't care less about how many miles it has, etc. Take for example the '73 454 I just bought. The owner claims 30k original miles. I was very skeptical. I went to look at it, and when I saw it, my first impression was "no f-ing way this car has 30k miles." But I liked the car, and looked it over. I also listened to the guy's story, looked at his $2 million dollar house, and realized that he probably wasn't really concerned about getting an extra couple of grand for the car by lying. Anyway, my car was bought new locally, and driven very rarely. In the 70's, the owner took it to a local speed shop, and wanted it all done up. They did a very nice job of doing it 70's style. L-88 hood, repainted it midnight purple with curlie-q graphics, pulled the 454, put it on a stand, and put a 427 in it. The owner quickly ran out of money, and the car sat in the shop from 1980-1990, never driven. In 1990 the shop owners bought the car, put the 454 back in, and drove it a few miles. The seats looked really worn, which was indication to me that it had way more than 30k miles on it. Upon closer inspection, they weren't worn, the foam was all dried up from the Colorado dryness. Looking under the car revealed what looked like a brand new, showroom undercarriage. You could tell it wasn't touched, ever, and still looked new. This made me believe the 30k miles story. Anyway, regardless, the point is, this car turned out to be a 30k mile car, but is it really relevant after what it's been through? then engine has been pulled, and put back in, it's been painted a non-stock color, and it also now has a 5 speed Doug Nash tranny. All the original parts are there.
This is just one example of how much stuff has happened to these cars over the years. Personally, miles are unimportant to me. I've seen cars with 300k on them that look and drive new. I've seen cars with 60k on them that are not any better than the average 200k mile car out there.
before you plunk down the loonies, or half in toonies, remember, there's lots of cars out there. just find the one that really does it for you. when you sit in that car, you should feel like you have something special, and you should feel like a million buck driving around. regardless if it's a big block, or a base small block.
