personally i dont know beans about that manufacture... but
there is no way that engine is worth anywhere near 500 bucks!
if it was a good runner and not knowing about repair parts the most i would think is maybe 250 bucks tops. Even
then it is a crap shoot, and not something i would spend alot of time engineering around or placeing alot of dependence on.
from what i can tell the changfa is the better if not the best of the lot when it comes to chinese diesel engines, and i would
look harder to find one. Perhaps in canada a dealer might be able to set you up, and parts are more available i would think.
500 bucks for a chinese engine that is long in the tooth, or as rough around the edges as you say is boardering on criminal in my books. i bet you can find one in canada or someone here that has one (changfa new) that wouldnt cost you a heck of a lot more.
seems to me the guy is being opportunistic to say the least.
another possibility is finding an old thermoking unit with an isuzu diesel, some are around 22hp at 2300 rpm and have two govenor settings, low speed of 1300rpm and the high speed 2300 rpm. parts are widely available and they too will live forever, and have electric start, glowplugs, water pump, tstat etc. @1300 rpm they produce around the same power of the 195 series diesel (12hp)
i picked up a nice running thermoking for 300 bucks, starts and runs beautifully, and has full flow filter, bypass filter, primary and secondary fuel filter and a real air filter element. Along with the a/c compressor and all the other controls. they too are stingy with their fuel consumption.
just a thought
bob g