Ask if a video of the press in action is possible. Or at least, detail photos. What you want to look out for are welds, breaks, casting cracks, rail integrity, prior repairs, wear on the roller saddles (unlike your pearl, which uses hooks instead of saddles) – you more than likely will need to invest in a set of rollers and trucks. And even if you cover all the above, purchasing from a remote place is still a risk. Part of the adventure, really. Rarely have I found a press with adequate rollers unless the owner recently replaced them, thus you may want to consider the cost of them in the mix. Aside from that, there’s not a lot to go wrong with the old C&Ps. But before I put substantial money into it, I’d want to see some convincing imagry of some sort, preferably a video with sound! You want to see that press go through at least a couple cycles. Consider also the price to haul, and the riggers to properly move, tie up and load / unload your investment. It’s a specialty move. Do you have local help for this? BTW, if you can, hold on to that Pearl! While you cannot print what is the current mode of the day, deep dish deboss, those are wonderful presses and can do proper, classical typographic printing as well as the very best (and largest) of them. Plus, they have a great legacy. If nothing else, they provide a great conversation / demo piece to your shop! ( even as I write, I am selling mine in lieu of upgrading my shop! So I can understand your thought process…. I am there, too. I have no room to keep the Pearl, unfortunately, otherwise I would.)
-gary
http://www.gjohanson.blogspot.com