I decided to use a motor/ diff mount from another vehical just to make it easier to get proper alignment of the pinion/ spur gears, so I picked up one off an Axial exo and mounted it up.
I should have tried to get a spool of some sort for the ctr diff, but I ended up making one from parts I had kicking around, so basically I have no ctr diff.....perfect. With that sorted out I moved on to an upper deck. The stock piece was no longer going to work so out came the aluminum and tools.