This is becoming more common but many have repaired / replaced their rear axle. I'm doing it now. I was kindly given a rear axle by a member of this forum but I've seen them for sale at £100 (presumably OK MOT wise). I stripped removed the brakes etc (basic socket/spanner set + 1 new big hub socket), wired brushed the worst of the rust off so I could get a quote for shot blasting and painting. Got this done for £240 for 2 part epoxy paint - powered coating is not recommended. This included the brackets and the hub back plates as I could not buy new. The axle goes into an A2 and can be easily lifted by one person when stripped down, so I took and collected myself.
The axle is fixed on with 6 bolts - 3 per bracket. New bolts should be used. You also need to disconnect the brake pipe hoses and handbrake cables. How much else gets replaced depends. At 90,000 I decided to replace everything: all the rear shocks, springs, and mounts, rear brakes, hubs, bearings, brake cables, brake hoses, bushes, nuts, bolts, brackets, etc. You will probably need to change the brake pipes as they corrode and cannot be easily undone - these can be an MOT failure anyway so need doing from time to time.
OK, my total cost so far is £1100 for parts and shot blasting/painting. I need to add the cost of swapping over - many here have done that themselves even without a pit. My guess it is 3 hours work with a pit. Plus say £75 for 4 wheel alignment. The most time consuming bit has been getting the parts as I was replacing almost everything.
I consider it well worth spending £1,000 pa on average to keep my A2 in tip top condition. If I buy a new used car at say £20,000 I will loose much more than that every year and the A2 still looks modern and gets good comments. Of course, if I lived in a ULEV zone I may think otherwise.
Please don't scrap yours. There are people on this forum that will rescue these increasing rare vehicles.
Alternatively one of our ethical scrappers will probably sell you a complete axle with all the brakes etc for £150 and then say 4 hours to remove yours and fit the replacement. I would at least paint the replacement with Kurust rust inhibitor. I do my existing axle every year with this - it takes about an hour with the A2 up on basic car sloping ramps.
PS a long post off topic but as you are a new member I thought it important to make you aware of solutions. I used WOM in the Peak District this year. They are the UKs experts on A2s and rates are reasonable. They are not too far from you. Very friendly.
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