Spiders welded to Carrier..now what

[tgfeller]

Im doing a frame off resto, when I popped the cover my 1977 Dana 44 K20 w/4.11 has the spider gears welded to the carrier...crap, this is supposed to be a DD type rig. I live in the Pacific NW, lots of snow. I can't justify not rectifying this issue now. There are 4 welds, one broke off from the carrier, looks sketchy.

My options as I see them:
1. Run as is, quirky possibly unsafe operations
2. Take out carrier and try to remove the welds and replace with new spiders
3. Go to a yard and look for a new carrier.

My inclination is #3, will any Dana 44 work to pull the carrier out and replace in mine? I would rather replace the guts since I've already blasted and painted the axle, bolted on springs with new bolts.