Parking brake cable stop slipped, how do you replace it?

[DAmatt]

When I pushed the parking brake pedal a couple of days ago, I heard a clunk, the brake warning light came on, and the pedal went soft. I knew right there and then that it was bad.

The front parking brake cable is held inside the brake pedal assembly inside a clip and through a cable stop (don't know what else to call it). If you take a look at the pictures, you can see the bare cable, and in the other pic the cable stop. What's curious is that it's rifled, with one end narrower than the other. I understand why, but I can think of better solutions, ergo the faliure.

My question is do I have to remove the brake pedal assembly to put the new cable in? It arrives tomorrow. Or how do I unbolt the cable's clip from the assembly? I understand there's another small clip that goes on the inside, and I don't know if I can reach it with the brake assembly in place. Would prefer this option though, if possible.

Is there any walkthrough with pics, or a video? A net search revealed nothing to me.

One last thing, at present moment the front cable is completely detatched from the rear, and the car has the rear brakes applied. Is this normal? I would have thought if the cable snapped, the car would just behave as if it had no parking brake. Light still on, of course.

Any help is much appreciated!

[70 sublime]

Do you use the parking brake all the time ?

If not and you just tried it because I would think the metal flex line right back by the wheels is probably is crunchy and holding the parking brake cable and not letting the brakes come off

[DAmatt]

Well the brake cables are all new, the car has just finished its restoration, currently awaiting number plates so I can drive it on the road.

I pushed the two rear cables as far as they will go (they didn't catch on anything), but the rear brakes are still engaged. How can this be, and what can I do about it?

[b5blue]

  Pull the wheels and see if the drums can be removed. Check to open a bleeder just in case it's holding pressure. If drums won't move pick at the adjusters to loosen shoes. (I had an E Brake that had a lazy return spring. I had to hook my foot under it and lift it up while holding the lever for release.)  I'm thinking pull the assembly to attach a new cable. Look for the clip that retains front cable where it passes through chassis, you'll most likely need to reuse it.