Hi Imcmanus, welcome here to the rorum,and good luck if you go ahead with yourdream.
You may already know ,that the 380SL has a single -row timing chain and as the miles pile on,tend to stretch,
unchecked the chain can jump its sprockets causing pistons to collide with vales, leaving the 380SL owner
facing a $7000 repair bill.
During late83 eary 84 Mercedes switched to a double new chains and solved the problem,
If you have doughts about 380SL ,go to a 560SL, with good service records from new,-you wont go wrong.