[Colin’s 65’ Mustang Coupe]

Hey Everybody!
I’ve been doing a 1990 5.0HO EFI engine and AOD transmission swap to my 1965 Mustang Coupe. It’s all going well and I’m in the final stages. However the 2 emergency brake cables that connect to the rear drum brakes seem to be seized up. I don’t know to much about these cables and how they work.

Are the cables suppose to be able to pull manually with my hands under the car or are they suppose the be “stuck” and not move much?
Also I did get a new crossmember for the AOD transmission and obviously it’s not like the stock crossmember. Do you think maybe the crossmember needs to be modded to where the original one was?
There is a lot of slack within the cables from the rear drum brakes, do you think they are just done for?

I know it’s a lot of questions, but if you would be able to help that’d be amazing!

 

[64-1/2 first.... 66 now]

As you can see from the picture there is quite the mechanical advantage when pulling the parking brake handle. They should move if you can pull hard enough, but they don't move much before the brakes are applied.
When I had mine apart i cleaned and lubed the cables.

 

[macstang]

Mine were kind of a wreck, completely stretched out even with one of those clamp on cable pinchers so I got new ones along with new lines and a bunch more under there. Is it possible that your rear brakes are what is seized up because that will keep them from moving.

 

[a793aa]

My 66 with an AOD had a parking brake installed at the local Mustang Shop. With the cross member in place to mount the cable equalizer bar, the adjustment bolt takes up the slack on the cables to the brakes.

 

[Travis98146]

They should be fairly snug when you pull them by hand. The two cables should only have to move the brake arm about 1/4". Are your brake shoes adjusted properly? If you can move each rear cable and they retract afterward, they aren't seized. You should only have to pull the e-brake handle 4 inches or so to lock up the rear brakes.