I recently rebuilt a rear axle assembly, and in the process I cleaned up several axle housings that were laying around. Of the 6 that I had, 5 had a yellow paint daub on the bell of the axle housing in the 5 oclock position. I had never noticed these before and was curious as to whether these were inspection marks from the factory or a rebuilder. Not that the car will perform any better or worse, I am curious as to when and why these marks were placed on the housings.

If you have been following early Mustangs lately, you'll notice that these inspection marks are factory marks and, as such, have become VERY important in competitive Mustang showings.

Our Lincolns probably have (or have had) similar inspection marks. I hope we (LZOC) never get so competitive that all the factory inspecton marks must be in place and visible in the correct color for judging!!!

Amen to that, Phil. I showed my Mustang at national MCA shows before retiring it, and you can't imagine the level of detail involved if you haven't experienced it -- down to such detail as wire routing differences across plants and months. Fun at some level, but it can get tedious.

I agree that minutia can be exasperating. However, some of this detail is interesting to me and as a historian (aka restorer)feel that the whys and wheres should be answered if possible. I would like to see Dave Cole do an article on inspection marks for TWOTZ