I have restored my original starter cable on my '86 Comp Prep back to oem. Being a 4 cylinder turbo car, the starter cable is very visible while inspecting the engine bay.
The first picture is of my original cable. The two mounting brackets are corroded, the convoluted tubing is damaged, and the plastic cable shield in the center is damaged. Typical for a Northern climate car.
I had the two brackets replated in clear zinc. The 3/8" convoluted tubing was replaced with tubing sourced through Auveco as part #14198. The center plastic shield was sourced from a later style cable, part number F0ZZ-14431-A or Motorcraft WC-8619-A.
Some minor cleaning of the cable itself, assembly of the various parts and pieces, and you have a nice detail for your engine bay. The second picture is of the restored cable.
The third picture, for comparison, is of an NOS cable. The Ford part number for this cable is listed as E5SZ-14431-A or Motorcraft WC-8594. These are getting harder to find, but they are out there. A recent example, in the box, sold on eBay shipped for $50. I would consider that a good buy.
