Sometimes it takes a bit, but eventually I get these projects done. Just in case there are any other similar age V210's needing cable replacement, I though I would share. Perhaps this will spur others on to DIY & save a few hundred.
In the end it was significantly easier than I thought it would be. The most time was taken getting ready to pull cable. In my case, the hardest part was taking apart the woofer box that the cable runs behind (and through, believe it or not) at the drivers feet. I had to take out the woofer, remove the face-wall, unscrew the box and pull it out to free up the cable that ran through the box with notches against the far wall.
After that, I decided that rather than pulling the old cable out, a rope through and then the new cable in, I would just pull once. To do this I first cut the "rack" off the cable at the helm with my sawzall so I wouldn't be pulling the rack through.
(taken after on the garage floor)
Then, I made a busing out of duct tape to act as a stop against the new cable and duct taped that to the new cable at the nut so it wouldn't slip.
Not shown above, but I duct taped the two cables together all the way down the rod at the rudder end of the cable. At this point, I was ready to pull from the stern end of the boat - the old cable out and the new one in at the same time. ...Past the woofer box, through the floor & center ballast locker,
then down the stringer by the gas tank, past the V-drive & into the engine compartment.
This took all of maybe 15 minutes. Easy.
Then, it was recommended that I super-clean out the tube that holds the steering cable rod at the rudder end of cable. In my case the inside was pitted a bit with some grease and deposits that wouldn't come easily off. I used a Flex-Hone tool for my tube's inside dia. (5/8), aluminum oxide (because my tube is aluminum) and medium 240 grit (recommended when I called).
http://www.brushresearch.com/brushes.php?c1=1 Because the Flex-Hone was not long enough to go completely through the tube, it needed an extension so I wouldn't be reversing inside the tube creating an uneven inside surface. Flex-Hone sells "extensions" but forgetting to order this up front, I didn't want to wait. So I devised an extension taking 3 bottom wires from coat hangers shoved them into the brushes of the Flex-Hone and then electrical taped then to the shaft. It worked like a charm.
I then reinstalled the tube. But this time I used a Zirk fitting in order to be able to lube the cable in the future (the old cable had only a plastic fitting on the end). The fitting looked something like this, but I bought it from my dealer:
http://www.go2marine.com/product.do?no=52011F&WT.mc_id=gb1 Then attached the rack at the helm, put the rest back together and that was it. Total time: 3-4 hours. Second time around (7-8 years from now), maybe half that.
Hope this helps. Go for it!