Introducing........RAT’S NEST

[big gear head]

Would the black paint have been applied at the factory or was that done by a previous owner?

Are you going to leave the rear end assembled or are you going to rebuild it?

[R68GTO]

My understanding is that the axle manufacturer would have painted the unit black prior to shipping to GM.....experts please chime in on this one. In my stripping process, the paint application on this rear seems to be (from recent to oldest):
1) semi-gloss black
2) chevy orange (side facing rear of car only)
3) semi-gloss black
4) yellow/white paint marks
5) bare steel

Layer 1 came off pretty easily, while layer 3 is adhered pretty good to the hsg. so I'm assuming this is the layer applied by the manufacturer.
My gut feel is to have someone go through it to replace bearings/seals, set backlash, etc. though just my uneducated eye says it all looks basically new now. Any advice is welcome.

Someone (can't remember who at the moment - Frank A. maybe) told me this particular rear was in a 57 chevy in the Columbus and originally came out of a burnished brown Frost Chevrolet RS COPO that had been wrecked BITD.