handbrake cable replacement

[omega]

well a couple of days ago i had the exhaust fail and now the handbrake has failed!
a quick look shows that the cable is in 2 pieces and it looks like its the long cable that goes to the handbrake lever thats snapped.now this cable runs under a heatshied that is above my new exhaust that seams to be held on with some well rusted 10 mil nuts so
does the heat shield have to be removed to replace this cable?
any top tips do undo these small rusted nuts without snapping the studs?
if/when i do break these studds how easy are they to replace?or is there are bodge/modification i can use?
cheers

[steve_earwig]

Which heat shield - the one under the fuel tank or the one over the exhaust by the handbrake? If it's the fuel tank one (which was held on by plastic clips on mine) then I don't remember the cable being clipped to anything, so you could probably tape/tie the new cable to the old and pull it through. If it's the one over the exhaust then you certainly don't have to remove it, I tied a wire onto the end of the old cable before I pulled it out, then used the wire to pull the new cable in - viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10317&hilit=+handbrake+cable#p92036

[omega]

hi steve yes its the one above the exhaust.i typed handbrake cable replacement into the search and got nothing!
tieing the wire to it is a great idea
now i wonder if i should rob the cable of one of my spare cars or but new
going to wait for a nice warm day now as i want to replace the backplates and discs at the same time

[lozz]

Edit,

steves already Mentioned what iwas going to say already,

The peice of wire /string, Monkey jump trick,

[teamster1975]

You don't need to completely remove the heatshield, unbolting it and resting it on the exhaust pipe will give you enough room to fiddle the cable in.
Word of warning though, you will get cuts all over your hands! It made a world of difference to the handbrake on mine, the adjuster was rusted solid on the old one.