Hello Shell and welcome! Let me give you a little 101 on OMC cables. I have several 50’s OMC motors that I run with remote controls. If you are ruining the plastic part of the cable you are installing them wrong. The attachment part that attaches to the cowl of the motor are side specific. Meaning one is port and the other is starboard. Some are marked some are not. When putting the cable on you start with it straight up and down. The brass part in the bracket. You will have to turn the motor right or left for the cable to miss the transom. I hope my pictures make some sense of this jargon! I also run dual outboards with remote hookup. I especially like running two 10hp OMCs
dale
.