For the life of me ,I can't figure an easy way to re attach this handbrake hardware back onto the end of the cable.  The spring tension is too much to compress with my hands.  I'm thinking i might need a special tool to compress the spring enough to install the end piece... I'm looking for some advice.

You sure that you don't have the emergency brake lever pulled up / engaged?

The hand brake handle/lever is down.  The spring in the photo holds pressure (tension) on the end of the cable.  The spring needs to be compressed to allow a gap for the bracket to fit in the area where the black line is in the photo.  It's a stiff spring.  As usual, taking it apart was much easier than putting it back together.

I have removed and reinstalled the handbrake cables several times and I don't recall the spring being that compressed. Can you think of something that would cause the cable to be in what looks more like the position it is in when the brake is engaged? Are the e-brake adjustment nuts / rods under the transmission tunnel too tight in terms of their adjustment?

That's a good point. During the restoration process i did completely disassemble the the entire hand brake linkage.  I guess I could have reassembled the linkage in a way that is putting tension on the cable, causing it to be so tight at the ends.  I'll look at that tomorrow.  Fortunately I haven't re installed the driveshaft yet so it should still be easy to access.

Take the cable loop all the way loose from the lever, so the cable can slide into the jacket. That 4 or 5 inches of slack should help

Excellent advice!  I disconnected the linkage from the cable up in the transmission tunnel and the cable easily slid into the "jackets" at the wheel ends after that.  Tomorrow I'll try to get it all adjusted properly.  Thank you all for the help.

Edited July 12, 20195 yr by ea6driver