Driveshaft slip yoke correct side and coating

[440ehigh]

Was dealing with my drive shaft today and after comparing it to pictures I found online and the MMC Detroit book I'm pretty sure someone had the slip yoke installed on the wrong side. From the pictures I found online it seems the reduced end of the shaft should go to the rear end and not the slipped yoke and the MMC book shows the numbers that should be on the rear of drive shaft are on the front side of my shaft in its current setup. Just want people more familiar with this to give me their thoughts.
Also any tips on restoring it to its correct finish I know it's supposed to just be a natural finish any way to achieve this after I strip the paint off. I think it might be to shinny after strip paint off I know paint could be hiding some pitting but looks like the shaft is in good condition the balancing weights still have their numbers visible.

[anlauto]

In my opinion, the taper goes towards the rear of the car. If you do a Google search, you find plenty of restored shafts like yours though

I've heard of people turning them on a lathe to remove a minuet amount of steel and clean up any pits 

[440ehigh]

Ok luckily my search on the forum showed the taper going towards the rear and I didn't google it lol. Otherwise would've thought mine was correct then. So in your opinion should I just strip the paint and see what it looks like and just do a coat of flat clear coat so doesn't flash rust. Where they originally just pipe steel.

[Floyd]

Mine was pretty similar.  It was painted black but didn't look too rough underneath the paint.  I had it it soda blasted to remove the paint, then rigged up a tube to soak it in evaporust.  I couldn't believe how nice it came out after the evaporust bath. 

Here's my previous post: 

https://forum.e-bodies.org/body-shop/5/driveshaft-resto-another-evapo-o-rust-success-story/21303/

I ended up NOT powder coating it, but instead sprayed it with eastwood's anti-rust (amber, kind of like cosmoline), wiping it down while still wet.

[440ehigh]

Thanks @Floyd I'm hoping mine turns out that nice I didn't see your post when I searched this topic. I plan on removing the paint with acetone and rags I don't have anyone local to soda blast it. Don't think that would affect the results though.

[440ehigh]

So thought I would share some of the information I learned today about the drive shaft and why they were made the way they were I'm sure some members already now this information but to anyone who doesn't.
So the the tapper end of the drive shaft is actually called a swedge and it was done to increase the strength of the shaft so explains why that side should go to the rear end. Then in Floyd's posting I saw that people said you  shouldn't powder coat a drive shaft because there might be an internal rubber piece to help with vibration or other internal components, that could get damaged with the heat so I decided to take some X-rays of the shaft. On the swedge side that was deigned to attach to rear end there is nothing inside of the shaft but on slip joint side there is a tube weight in it that's definitely not rubber it's steel and a lot thicker then the rest of driveshaft. In the last picture I'm attaching you can see the tube shaft weld plus some holes the other weld.

[anlauto]

You just happen to have your own X-ray machine ? or did you take it to your local walk-in clinic complaining of stiffness in your shaft?

[Floyd]

Very cool.  Thanks for posting!

[440ehigh]

  I have them at work industrial size ones for quality control on parts can look into anything about 4 inches thick of steel

[Jocigar]

Cool to see x-rays.   

Taking notes for future   with a 50/50 chance I would have gotten this wrong! 

I used combo of Seymour cast blast and stainless steel pigment... 

Still don't know if springs were black or natural from factory