This week, I realized that one of the Cable Guides was left on the 57 Nomad I purchased when it was painted (red) along with the car. When I tried to remove it, I found out why; one of the screws turned and the 'weldnut' behind it was turning with it! and the other screw head was buggered up because the screw was apparently rusted into the weldnut. After drilling out both of these screws and cleaning the threads of the one weldnut, I soaked the painted cable guide in lacquer thinner for a few hours trying to soften up the urethane paint (It really surprised me how little the lacquer thinner affected the urethane paint!).. but I finally got the paint off and then did some grinding and sanding on both of the cable guides to alleviate the wear grooves caused by the cables over the years. I then thought of Mike's 'polished stainless steel cable guides', so I went to his website ... but the $220 price is pushing me to 'restore' the ones I have... I'm thinking of doing some more sanding/polishing to smooth the originals up and then perhaps painting them to make them look better; maybe cast iron paint? or stainless steel or 'chrome' paint?? What do you fellas think? Have any of you found a great way to restore/refinish the original cable guides?

PS. Once I refinish these parts, I plan to use a 'cement' or epoxy to 'glue' another nut in place of the missing one; I'm thinking it will hold long enough to get the new screws started and tightened... What say you fellas about that idea? What do you suggest (besides welding- since the car is already painted, I don't want to weld on it)..