[Arran]

It's your choice of course, but I really think that you are letting your money burn a hole in your pocket over this. I would either see if he would come down in price massively or walk away, and wait for another to turn up, or see about getting one shipped from elsewhere that might be more complete and in better shape. We are now entering the season where the antique radio swap meets are starting so it may be worth traveling to one or more, and if a 40-180 can't be found there you could arrange to buy one from another collector and meet him a meet. Honestly finding one is like waiting for the bus, I walked away from the Canadian version of a 41-280 once because it needed too much replaced, and the cabinet still needed some work, and whilst I could have talked him down from the $80 he wanted I really had no desire to put that much effort, nor money, into a fairly common console model.
Regards
Arran