Feel bad, but not guilty

Agree with everyone here. It's a project car and you cant assume it's a good starting point. No dig on you, regardless of the condition. You offered to help make something right and got nothing. He could be trying to scam you... How I have no idea. I sold a car when I was a kid. Cops found it on the side of the road months later and they came after me. I had the sales portion of the title. They wrote the info down and left. Never heard about it again.