I did exactly what the op is looking to do. Broke an 8 3/4 and went to pick and pull on half price Wednesday to get a dana from a late 70s ford truck the next week. Cut the axle tubes on a big band saw. Welded housing ends using homemade fixture. Big ground bar stock and pucks cut on a lathe. Moser axles and strange spool. Worked out ok, but watch out, the axle tubes are different thicknesses. Mine are crazy thick 3/8? And therefore heavy. Having a lathe handy really helps, too. I probably put 700$ in it but a fair amount of time. But it was fun and i learned a lot. It’s still going after 9 years.

Enjoy the project!

Tony