A dead pedal does not operate anything, A dead pedal is nothing more than a foot rest. Say, that attenna on the roof is magnetic or drill in? NIce GTB on the outside. I'd approach this Ferrari in 2 ways; Aesthetics and Wear & Tear. One more vey important point, Your doing a great job at getting down to the bottom of things. I dont see that you'll be disappointed with your final decision. Get a Professional PPI now. You already did your own.
Euro 328's came with the slimmer mirrors as standard The underside doesnt look too bad for a 16-17 year old low volume Italian sports car, the rust on the exchaust hangers is normal (its only the body thats galvanized) Its not perfect, but there's nothing you couldnt fix easily and cheaply in your garage at home.
Looks like it needs some work....I just sold my 1987 328 and the undercarriage, engine and engine compartment were as clean as the day it was built. The oil leak is common and you probably won't find an older car without alittle leak somewhere.
From the looks of the dead pedal and the throttle pedal, the previous owner drove the car like it was meant to be driven....hard in the corners. The dead pedal is more than just a foot rest though, it's what braces you in the car especially in a street car with inadequate side bolsters at high cornering speeds. I'll bet the farm that the brake and clutch pedal rubber pads were NOT on the pedals while the owner used this car. He just put them back on to sell. I did the same thing on my Euro QV until I bought Hill Engineering Aluminum pedal covers as I hated the feel of the brake pedal rubber while heal and toe maneuvers. Took the clutch pad off to match height of brake pedal height. Don't see that kind of rust in Texas. As long as it's surface rust, I would not worry too much other than after you buy car, buy it for a deal and get Navel Jelly, neutralize rust, and repaint with Satin black. Motor mounts look collapsed, replace them. I do not recommend stressing your water hoses by removing your mounts. Too many things can go wrong and you'd bend the shift shaft unless you disconnected it too. Oil leak at shift shaft boot is common and may have the seal in between oil and trans sump leaking too causing trans to fill up with engine oil and leak out of the breather.....check the level of the trans, if it pours out quicky, that's oil floating on top of the gear lube.