Just heard from Sleeth. He's asking me for commitments now. I'm thinkin' that's a good sign (he's sweating now), but I believe that he's just searching for a way to trip me up and get out of the situation. I really believe this guy is a criminal and even if I do ship the carbs to him COD, he'll make some kind of claim that I've done something to the carbs to ruin them just to get my money back.
At this point, I believe I'm going to pack the carburetors up and send them to Patrick James (Pro Systems) for an itemized evaluation of their condition. At the very least they'll both need new throttle plate assemblies and brobably metering blocks. It's hard to believe that sand blasting hasn't ruined them. If he felt the need to abrasive blast carburetor parts he should have known to use baking soda (even that isn't real smart). Anyway, the results, along with the original ad, and the entire email string will then be forwarded to his probation officer. His current activities are almost certainly a violation of any probation conditions.
I've gotten to the point where I'd rather eat the monetary loss and let his probation officer take care of things.