It's your friend's late father's camera, so there is probably a good amount of sentimental value to it. It may provide a very tangible connection between your friend and his father. One can't put a price on sentimental value, especially for a real connection to a person who has passed. I'd say it's worth the expense.
My mom recently gave me all her old film photo gear, which included her 1969 Pentax Spotmatic and 50mm f/1.4 Super Takumar. The camera's light meter doesn't work, the whole body needs an overhaul and the lens needs work to. I can work on it but I want this camera perfect. It is the first camera that I ever looked through and took my own photo with, while mom helped me. As a camera without that story, it's worth maybe $50 because of the work needed to bring it back to good working order. I could buy 20 Spotmatics from thrift stores for the cost of the overhaul, and there is a very good chance that more than half of them would work just fine. All that said, I'm sending this camera to Eric Hendrickson for him to bring it back to as-close-to-new as he can, because the sentimental value of having my mother's camera working perfectly is worth it to me. It's that connection and history that is worth it.
Phil Forrest
