More damage then I thought on my 280SL

[CJHenderson]

Well this pagoda wasn't always on the road. Sent it to a restoration shop and found besides corrosion the car was in an accident. The front end was damaged with a 1/4 inch of bondo on the right front fender and the hood had a lot of bondo but in thin layers all over it. Have a glove box door that came from another car and the original color before it was painted silver was according to the ID plate under the hood DB906 Blue/Grey Metallic. Is there any other way of finding the VIN number besides the ID plate? Estimate to fix the body is between 10K - 20K. I can smell my credit card starting to melt
 

[Vander]

Vin is stamped on the passenger frame rail in the engine compartment, forward of the shock mounting plate. Probably will have to brush away some dirt or grease to find it.

What are you hoping to discover from the vin, the original color or something else?

[CJHenderson]

Since the car has been damaged and corrosion set then this is good indication that this car sat in someone's backyard or salvage yard. In either case I need to make sure that the vin number does belong to this body. Since the old paint that I found on the glove box paint was different from the dashboard paint and the windshield pillar is different from the color number stamped on the ID plate and the fact that the car was painted silver gives me pause along with the suspicion of a pieced together car.

[EeVeeWee]

Here is the original VIN location:

[Pawel66]

I am probably stating the obvious here, but the first checks are:
1. Do the first digits of VIN match the car configuration, LHD, automatic or manual
2. If you have the data card (and you can get it from classic center) - this will tell you options you should have or traces of them
3. Do the options in the car match those from data plate?
4. When you grind the paint in other plate, e.g. air scoop - do you see the different colours?
5. The numbers stamped on transmission box support, etc. Should match those on data plate.
6. Do the numbers on the back of upholstery pieces match the number on the data plate.

[CJHenderson]

Thank you, I have the body fully sanded so it won't be hard to check it out to insure everything is as it should be.

[doitwright]

Welcome to the club of owners who discovered the sins of previous owners approach to repairing their vehicles. Now look at it from a positive note. Assuming you will get the repairs done properly and document your progress, you will have the piece of mind of knowing your car is no longer the bondo bucket it once was. You brought back to life a vehicle suffering from cancer. Sure it is not what you thought you were getting when you purchased the car but the good news is everything rusted can replaced. It's only sheet metal.

[ChrisInNashville]

CJ, let’s remember, we own cars that are likely insured as antiques, but (at least in my case) are younger than us...   I have every document on my car going back to the original sticker...every year’s expense summarized with supporting receipts (including gas purchases) during the car’s 38 yr tenure as the first owner’s daily driver.  This even included the accident report from a fender bender. 

Despite this, the original owner (my penpal of 15 years since I purchased the car) doesn’t recall another “bondo incident” discovered and repaired in my recent 4 yr long restoration project.  We all aspire to perfection in these things, but it’s a needle in a haystack. 

BTW, are you pulling the body off for the paint job?

[CJHenderson]

Yes I have it sitting on a cradle in the body shop. Totally naked body