88 Fiero Rear Caliper Problems

Alright guys I just finished replacing all the ebrake cables,pads and rotors. i took the rear calipers to my buddies garage to compress them. yes i know theres a tool to rotate the piston back into the caliper...but the tool that u can rent from autozone DIDNT FIT the fiero calipers. so i put them in a vice with a rag so i dont gnar up the surface. i took the cable bracket off and began to turn the nut and lightly compress the piston in as i turned the nut. i HAD to do that because the nut i was turning kept sinking inside the caliper just enough so i couldnt get a wrench or socket on it. kinda odd. i removed the o ring seal before i did any of this. i got them both compressed and put back together. i put them on...the driver side works but the passenger side was frozen when i first tried to put the cable to it...so i took the cable bracket (from the caliper) and the threaded piece moved freely. so i rotated it a little bit...(i tried this a bunch of times)each time trying something different. now i can get the cable on but the bracket now just goes too far when u pull the e-brake handle and i dont think its doing ANYTHING. i moved it the same way the cable did with my hands. ive never rebuilt a caliper before so could someone please help me on this one? i dont wanna drop $114 for 1 caliper. but i know i can get the rebuild kit.