Mark, sometimes the VIN stamping is very faint to almost nothing down on the side of the rear of the block when they were stamped. You are correct in saying that a VIN not visible or missing down there is somewhat common. I have had 2 or 3 over the years that were like this. My 69 PaceCar has the #'s down in the rear area and they were almost stamped correctly as well; They are there for my block but not perfectly
