I finally got a chance to pull the tascam tape machine out of the closet and try to check things. Things aren't quite in the shape I assumed, though, so I'll just be honest with you up front.
One of the rubber pinch rollers has been affected by the heat. I think it may have been caused by Hurricane Ike, because when we lost our power, it was out for almost 18 days, and our house got really warm. So it's a little gummy now. This means you'll want to buy a replacement pinch roller, which can usually be found on ebay from $40-50. For example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-TASCAM-1-2-ROLLER-38-48-42-44-TSR-8-MSR-16-REEL_W0QQ
Also, the right-side reel holder is a little loose. From what I can tell, this won't cause an actual problem, but tightening a screw in the middle did not help the way I thought it might.
In addition, the metal rollers could use some polishing from the oxidation, and the heads could use some cleaning. However, I think this should be simple and cheap, such as wiping everything down with isopropyl or denatured alcohol. Everything else runs fine.
Would you still be interested in the unit, despite these problems? I suppose you have to expect to deal with problems when it comes to old tape machines, but no doubt if you have the time/money to invest, it's worth it.
Let me know what you think.