Emergency brake cable

How does the emergency brake cable on the differential disconnect from the brakes. I have my rear end hanging finally but the cable is going to have to go over the exhaust. Thanks.

I know this is a Mustang pic, but the principle/implementation is the same on the drum brake Nova rears:

http://images.mustangmonthly.com/howto/0703_mump_23_z+mustang_ebrake_repair+drum_brake.jp g

The little tabs on the silver/spiky thing bend outwards to stop the cable from being pulled out of the backing plate once that has been pushed through the plate. To remove it, you just need to push those little tabs pack in (I used a small worm hose clamp to do this) and pull the cable out...assuming you've already disconnected it from the brake shoes.

To reinstall, just push the end of the cable through the backing plate and bend the tabs back out.