for those of you who want to know the real way of adjusting the parking brake cables, not just a "prob" way of doing it (no offense Stevo), here is how i figured out how to adjust it.
after calling local dealers and asking the help of several techs, i came to the conclusion that the ebrake cables are self adjusting and that there is no way to manually adjust it, until i came accross this instruction sheet for a rear disc conversion for a fox body:
http://www.fordracingparts.com/download/instructionsheets/FordInstShtM-2300-K.pdf
it starts on the bottom of page 16 and ends on 17, at least the usefull info i need. page 17 shows you pictures of the gear that adjusts the cable slack, the part thats supposed to be automatic. see the part where they say you need to weld? the location of that lever on the gear determins the slack the cable is going to have.
to adjust it on my car here is what i had to do:
step 1 - unhook the parking brake cables from the calipers, then unhook them from underneath the car (removing the driveshaft is really helpful, but you dont need to). you unhook the cables from the calipers by removing the "E" clip and then with some pliers taking the cables off.
step 2 - remove the insert basket thingy from the center console (didnt feel like removing the entire center console) to have access to the parking brake assembly. the center console basket is held in with 4 screws, which are nicely hidden under the rubber things on all four corners.
step 3 - remove the parking brake handle assembly from the car, unhooking the 2 wires (one of the wires might be screwed/bolted on) and unbolting the 2 bolts that hold it to the body. the lever from underneath the car is going to be a little tricky to get thru the hole in the body and has to come out with the handle, but just play with it and it will go thru the opening. the black dust shield will pop off with a little help.
step 4 - once the assembly is out of the car, refer to the picture on page 17 of the manual from above. see that little spring, holding the lever thats supposed to determin the slack of the cable? remove it with some pliers (just unhook it so its no longer holding the lever)
step 5 - ive since discovered that 96/97 models are a little different than 98 models, but on mine there was a steel plate that is bolted onto the handle that doesnt allow the lever to move. i removed the bolt, stood back, and with a hammer hit the plate off. the coil is going to unwind with force, but not as much force as i was expecting (which is why i moved back, and i still suggest you do, just in case).
step 6 - by hand, you have to rewind the coil and place the lever on whichever tooth you deem is going to suit you best. the higher you go on the gear (in the pic, where its welded is the lowest you can go on the gear) the less slack you have on the cable. i manually rewinded the coil and set the gear to where i wanted it, using the metal plate i took off on step 5 and the lever to help me hold the coil in place when i needed to get a better grip on it. remember that you cant have it too tight or else its either not going to reach, or its going to be engaging the parking brake. **see below**
**this is pretty much a repeated trial and error process. i suggest you do it this way: once you think you have the proper amount of slack for your liking, reassemble the parking brake handle and then hook up the parking brake cables to the calipers. next, re-install the parking brake assebly , making sure you dont forget to put the lever thru the hole to go back under the car. dont worry about the wires just yet. install the bolts on the assembly and then go under the car and try to hook up the 2 rear parkng brake cables to the lever coming from the assembly. if they cant reach, repeat step 6 above and leave a little more slack in the cable this time. if they go on without any resistance, repeat step 6 above but dont leave so much slack in the cable.
step 7 - once you get the desired slack in your cables, you can reasseble everything. since the cables are now already hooked up the calipers and to the lever under the car, the only things left are for you to bolt the parking brake handle assembly to the car, re-install that little dust shield that the cable has (to stop the dust from coming in via the hole in the body for the cable), reconnect the 2 wires you disconnected, and reinstall the center console basket. the just test it to make sure it grabs now.
its been a few months since the last time i messed with the cables, but this is pretty much what i had to do. this is not a 100% direct how-to guide and you may have to improvise a little depending on what year you have (remember, 98 was a bastard year). my friend has a 96gt that he adjusted the cable using my how-to and mentioned that it was a little different in regards to the plate in step 5, but thats all he mentioned, everything else was the same.
if you think this is too much work to do everytime you need to adjust the cables (since i adjusted it this way i have never had to re-adjust it), you could also do as the manual says and weld the lever to the gear (disabling the auto feature) and then install the FRPP adjustable cable, part # M-2810-A, which is pictured on page 18 of the manual posted above. this way you can just adjust it from underneath the car with a simple wrench rather than have to disassemble the entire assebly to adjust it.
hope this helps you guys. i went about a year without a parking brake, and it wasnt too bad, just tried to park in as many flat places as i could or if i had to park on an incline i just left the car in gear, never had a problem.
