During the cleaning of the rear axle and 8-3/4 out of my 72 Challenger Rallye I made a discovery on the center section that I've never seen before (or maybe I have not been paying attention in over 25 years of wrenching on e-bodies)

This is a low mileage original car that I purchased from the original owner over 10 years ago while living out in cally so the underside is in excellent condition.

Check out photos of the 8 - 3/4 center section.

At first I thought it was rust but the more grease & dirt removed it became evident that the center is painted with red oxide primer. All the original paint markings and codes are on the axle tube, center section etc.
My experience has been that the center sections were finished (or left) natural steel.

another photo

probably rebuilt in the past, most i have seen are natural + the gear ratio tag is usually on the lower driver side, at least what i have seen

Might be that a dealer replaced it with a ratio requested by the new car owner.

Many similar things were done to please a customer. I bought a new 66 Plymouth, it had power steering that I didn't like, the dealer offered to replace it with a non power unit.

a buddy of mine has an nos center section . and it's red oxide as shown. so more than likely it's an over the counter install piece

Did over-the-counter NOS units have all of the same markings as an OEM unit?...except for bolt-check paint dabs of course.

Yes, that is a production line piece. I found several '72-'74 units painted red oxide from the factory over the years.

Where was the car it came from built?

I am almost sure my '67 was red oxide

All 71-74 E bodies were built at Hamtramck.

Yes car built at Hamtramck. Plus I have no reason to believe that it was ever replaced or rebuilt.
The axle ratio is correct to the build sheet and all markings original.

Now that others have stated that the red oxide was on some of the cars I'm trying to remember if any of the other 72-74 e-bodies that I owned were like that as well

I should have asked this question last year, after seeing an article on where to look for some markings,I started cleaning my 8.75, there is what looks like orange paint under some of the black that came off - I was always wondering why would someone strip the black, paint it reddish orange, and then black again - it's a 489 case 3.55 gear car was built May 26 of 71 - I'll have to look at the date to see what it is, havepicson my other computer - will post when I get a chance - interesting - Joe

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Really? They only built them in L.A. for one year?

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Yes