I would ask the seller if I could put a drop of oil on the armature and bearings and test run the locomotive for a few feet. If it doesn't run, repairs could be expensive.
The 1122 has not been reproduced, so parts could be hard to find.
Ives introduced the first mass-produced sequence reverse unit for toy trains in 1924, so an 1122 had one originally. After purchasing Ives (with the cooperation of American Flyer) in 1928, Lionel improved the design. In 1933, Lionel proclaimed this great innovation "Distant Control." Locomotives so equipped had an "E" added to their numbers (400E, for example). That gave rise to the name "E-unit."
Removing (and apparently discarding) the E-unit raises a red flag for me.
