Piers,
sorry to hear about the crash. Removing a fender is an expensive job. The factory joint between the fender and the cowl runs under the windshield. If a cut is made there, then yes, probably the windshield, wood and lots of other stuff have to come out. It may be possible to make a cut so it misses the windshield, say from the corner of the bonnet opening to the door opening, at least that's what my shop proposed when we were talking about taking the fenders off to repair some rust (we ended up not removing them, thank God). They had an old body shop book that listed about 30 hours for removal and replacement of the fenders (at $60USD per hour, that's $1800-$2000 just to take them off and put them on). That's for removing both fenders and grille surround as a unit, but even leaving one fender on it will still be an expensive repair.
I would recommend finding a shop that knows these cars and has done it before, if possible. Good luck.
George Davis
'69 280 SL Euro manual
