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Where is the ID for the body located?

Zenny

Member
Title explains the post, where on the car can I find the ID for the body? I have seen others post the body number of their Sterlings, so I'm curious where it should be located so I can find it for myself. I didn't have light yesterday and I didn't think to look for it so it may be somewhere very obvious.
 

letterman7

Honorary Admin
Not all cars were stamped with a serial number. There should be a rectangular shaped stamped area in the gelcoat right on the top of the driver's sill at the low point. Pretty hard to miss. But, that said, many cars suffered the indignation of having that area sanded smooth during a paint session or "restoration". Later cars used a riveted aluminum plate in the same spot - those plates are often missing.
 

Zenny

Member
Okay, thank you. I'll check that spot out later to see if it's still there. If it isn't, is there any way for me to estimate the year it was manufactured?
 

letterman7

Honorary Admin
Not really. There might be some styling cues to give a general timeline, like the type of dashboard and the tail light panel, but they're all the same otherwise.
 

Zenny

Member
I recall reading some other threads in the past where you added the ID of the cars to a list of known bodies, and I think I may have read that some had notable history. Mine is GP 39.
 

letterman7

Honorary Admin
I used to keep a list but that was years ago. I have photos of most that had come up for sale over the years with notes of the serial numbers; I don't think I have 39 in my file, That said, GP39 was an early body produced by the Midwest plant around 1976 - more specifically, it was produced by Gaylord Plastics (hence GP) for the Midwest plant before that facility was fully up and running. About 10 cars were produced by Gaylord before the Midwest plant got going fully; their designations were typically prefixed by an "S" or a "B", along with the stamping that read "Sterling Component Cars Midwest".
 
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