when I did something similar to this about 50yrs ago, I got axles, complete backing plates and finned 11in drums from an early 70 wagon and sent the axles off to someplace in CA to have the axles shortened and resplined. It worked super slick.
Yup, one option is to use C-body or truck BBP axles and have them shortened. E-body, and some B-body BBP axles can’t be used because of the way the axle diameter changes over the length of the axle. Some of the axles from those body’s have the wrong diameter where the splines need to go for an A-body.
Although nowadays those axles aren’t super easy or cheap to find, and when you add in shipping costs you could easily spend almost as much or even more than the $300 you could buy a brand new set of axles from DoctorDiff for. And then you don’t have 50 year old axles either.
