[Chaplin]

Obviously if you have a mechanic you can bring it to who is knowledgeable or somewhere you can throw the car up on a lift, you're that much better off. But if you don't, in addition to what Perry said, you might want to check the compression in each cylinder. Simple and cheap enough to do. Hopefully, they'll all be good and the readings should be relatively close from one cylinder to the next. Other than that, I'd drive it and listen to it. You can learn a lot just from the sound and feel of the engine/trans. If something is really wrong, you'll know pretty quickly, i.e., smoking, rods knocking, doesn't shift well (at all), gears grind, serious vibrations from motor and/or trans, etc., etc.

If you checked the compression and/or did a leak down test and drove it and it drove well, I'd fell pretty comfortable. However, that doesn't mean that there couldn't be some lurking problem, it's still a "risk". But chances are, unless a mechanic tore the engine down (which seller wouldn't let you do anyway), it'd be unlikely that you'd discover that problem anyway.

If you're really concerned, you could see if Danbury Competion (the engine builder that ERA uses for their turnkey cars) would be willing to check the engine out for you. Might be worth a call for peace of mind.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.