For me here in Louisiana, I had to take an 8hr round trip to Mississippi to find just an 8 3/4 housing. It was only 600 bucks with just the axles included. Whether it was cheap or overpriced.. I needed it.
On the 4 spd prior to the one I bought for sale, I was looking at a 500 mile radius and found a few B and E body transmissions. When an A body one came up, it was an overdrive unit that looked like it had been under water the last 20 years. People on eBay are really really proud of their stuff to lol
Keep looking though, there’s a seller on eBay that sells refurbished 8 3/4 housings with axles in all factory widths. It’s expensive but, it’s a sure thing.. I wanna say with shipping it’s around 1500 bucks with new large bolt axles. It’s not ideal but I would have had to go that if there were no other options outside of getting an explorer 8.8 and have it modded to make it work.