Hiace Axle Retaining Studs
To attach everything to the Hilux rear end you need Hiace Axle Retaining Studs. I went out to Pick 'n' Payless after work yesterday and unbelievably there was only one Hiace van in the yard - it was an '86 model. Luckily, it had the rear end brakes intact so I set to work to liberate its studs. Thanks to "pure-in-sanity" who set me straight on what to look for.
I removed the drum cover, and used a 14mm socket to remove the four nuts from the rear of the Hiace brake assembly. It's easier if you take a 12mm socket and remove the two bolts holding the cable assembly on at the back to get at the last nut. Then remove all the shoes from inside by releasing various springs, take the cable end out of its socket, and using a combination of screwdriver and bullnose pliers remove the spring-loaded "octopus" clip, and pull out the handbrake cable. Remove the brake fluid line with an 8mm open-end spanner (or just cut it off if you are in a hurry) - you may need to do this to get at the other nut or just push it out of the way.
You should now be able to remove the axle from the diff (it takes a bit of a jiggle) with the brake assembly attached. I put the axle perpendicular to the ground (brake end at the bottom) and released the four axle studs with a sharp whack of a heavy hammer. They are an interference fit so should pop straight out. Make sure you keep the 8 nuts. Take care not to damage the threads.
The Hiace axle retaining studs are 41mm long, from their end to the inside of the head.
Do both sides and you should now have your 8 Hiace Axle Retaining Studs and nuts.
Toyota Corolla KE70 Handbrake Cables
As both "pure-in-sanity" and "gianttomato" have indicated you can use a couple of different handbrake cable setups if the Hilux ones you have don't fit. I went for the Corolla KE70 ones and there were at least 6 in the Pick 'n' Payless yard.
I found a 1984 KE70 where someone had already done most of the work in removing the rear brake assembly.
All I did was get underneath, remove the two 10mm bolts in the tunnel, detach the cables from the handbrake lever, remove the other two 10mm bolts near the rear wheel well, pop the cables out of the brake (as above with the Hiace), and that's it.
These are the two mounting points, one in the tunnel and one near the rear wheel well. The one in the tunnel has a metal cylindrical clamp on it that you have to pop out of.
I paid $30 for these cables, which I thought was reasonable.
Today I plan on removing the Hilux cables to check the KE70 ones for fit so I'll be able to confirm this later this evening.
Thanks also to "pure-in-sanity" for sending me photos of a similar conversion, which (with permission) I might clean up in Photochop and post here as an additional resource.
Cheers,
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