Rear Axle Codes

[68Biscayne427]

I had my axle out of my 427 Biscayne to repair it and I took some pictures of the axle codes. I had a hard time telling if the second character is an 'O' or a 'Q'. What do you guys think?? The 'Q' looks pretty faint but I don't know... Has anybody out there seen a 'Q' before on an axle? If it is a 'Q' it is a plain-jane 3.55 no posi but if it is an 'O' it would be a 4.56 Posi. Quite the difference...
Appreciate any help on this..

Rob M.
Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic3

[mockingbird812]

Great photos Rob. IMHO I would say that it is an "O" not a "Q". I base this on the very deep imprints for all of the other alpha-numerics. I believe the "slash" for the "Q" would also be very deliberate and deep if it were actually part of the "Q".

Do you have any docs to back up the axle ratio?

[68Biscayne427]

I know the pics were a little big...

I don't have any paperwork to back it up. The 4.56 rear-end was kind of part of the so called documentation. My car is like Casey's in a way that I don't have documentation but I have physical evidence and the second owner that swears up and down that it is a true L72. So if this is a 3.55 rear-end than a) it was switched, or b) it was never a L72... I don't like the second one!!!

[scuncio]

Wouldn't there be an 'E' under this code if it was a factory Positrac?

[427king]

[ QUOTE ]
Wouldn't there be an 'E' under this code if it was a factory Positrac?

[/ QUOTE ] I have 2 factory oem chevelle posis w/o the E eaton stamp

[68Biscayne427]

That is the other thing I forgot to mention, nothing stamped under the code.... Actually in '68 I believe GM used 3 sources for their Posi units; 'E' for Eaton, 'D' for Dana, and 'W' for Warner. If this axle was a Posi, it should have one of these codes stamped on the second line - In a perfect world that is...