Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026

With my son’s help, we got the driver’s side tail gate cable and retractor changed yesterday. I did a little research and found these photos that give you a better view of what that damn mechanism that serves as the “stop” for the retractor cable.

The cable comes in from the left, then goes into the “U” channel. The hoop to the right has a slim opening on the lower left side to allow you to force the cable into that hoop. In the top right of the photo, you can see the hole where the cable exits and ends up attached to the side of the tail gate.

The photo below shows the passenger side of a 1957 Nomad.. The passenger side of my wagon is the next job, and I’ve finally located what we need to do to replace the retractor and the cable, while also getting the cable through the fixture shown above but on the passenger side.

According to a post on a Tri-Five message board, the solution is to connect the cable to the retractor; thread the cable out the taillight opening, fully extending the retractor. Then I’ll clamp the retractor with a pair of vice grips to take the strain off the cable. Once there, you can work the cable through the passenger side stop and hoop. It sounds do-able.

Not sure if I can get my son’s help tomorrow. We’ll see. If not Monday, the maybe Tuesday.

COMING UP NEXT? I would love to cover the door panels next, then carpet. All things in good time, as they say.

NEXT SHOWS. The Depot Street Car Show in this coming Friday. There’s a car show/cruise-in Friday, the 28th in Springfield. I plan to stop by St. Catherine and pick up my wife and then head on — weather permitting on both, of course.