Clutch cable question..., THought it snapped, but now I don't know Options

[pib]

Saturday night I thought I snapped a clutch cable. I was pushing the clutch in, there was a loudish noise, and the pedals been on the floor ever since.
I ordered a cable yesterday, and it arrived this morning. I put the car on jack stands (for the first time), and after staring at the damn rust for a while (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/barf.gif) I got to looking at the clutch cable.

So here's the weird thing. The cable appears to be intact. If I pull on the end at the tranny, the pedal actually goes back to it's normal postion. So, all you experienced people out here, what should I look at next? What else could cause a cable to seemingly grow a couple inches in an instant? I looked in the tunnel, as best I could, and the tubes all appear to be attached.

Also, is it 'normal' for the clutch cable and accel cabel to be this close to each other? They're almost touching.

[pib]

All of this started two days after replacing the shifter. I checked the tube while I had the shifter out, and couldn't move it at all. I poked at the firewall entry point earlier today , and it didn't wiggle at all...so I thought it might be OK. I just went back and poked again, and the whole @#%@! thing broke loose.
I guess it's time to buy a welder, and learn how to use it (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/sawzall-smiley.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/welder.gif) . Damn, I was hoping to put off the start of the full teardown until after the summer. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/icon8.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/barf.gif)