I live in the Austin area and there are small pockets of industry but nothing like Dallas, Houston, or San Antonio.  The few smaller hardware stores we have do not carry music/piano wire.  When you ask if they do they have no clue what you are talking about and direct you to picture hanging supplies.  I have browsed a few in person and come up empty handed.  Many years ago I bought some music wire from a Michael's aka. MJ Designs.  The big box hardware stores do not carry it, heck, just finding metric bolts can be a pain in this town.  I called Hobby Town USA since they do lots of R/C stuff, they have 0.87mm and 1.4mm, so no dice there.  I am going to call Grainger back since they show they can get stuff to their local store the next day.

Dang.  Didn't realize how lucky I was.  You might reconsider scavenging the wrecking yards.  Some of the older bigger cars can have lengthy cables, with sheaths.

Consider McMaster Carr also.  https://www.mcmaster.com/#music-wire/=14yc2e0

I spoke to Grainger's tech support.  They said the specs on their website are provided by the manufacturer but they agreed that .051 inches and 10.295mm are vastly different.  The manufacturer's part# for the wire is 21051 that is .051 inches on their website which equals 1.295mm.  I went ahead and placed my order, it will be here tomorrow.  $5.76 total for 144 feet.  I am going to stop by some bicycle shops to see what they have regarding cable sheathing.  Maybe I will get lucky.

Living in Austin is a lot like living in Portland...

16 hours ago, Hardway said:

I spoke to Grainger's tech support.  They said the specs on their website are provided by the manufacturer but they agreed that .051 inches and 10.295mm are vastly different.  The manufacturer's part# for the wire is 21051 that is .051 inches on their website which equals 1.295mm.

I hope this Graingers order turns out well for you, but be sure to take a measurement caliper with you to the store so that you can check the wire's actual diameter before you complete the purchase.  If the '0.051' wire turns out to be wildly undersized (and it might), don't count on the next box labeled '0.051' being any different.  If you encounter this problem, I suggest you order a replacement box that's the next available size down -- probably '0.049' -- and hope for a better match between 'as labelled' vs. 'actual'.  

FWIW, remember that  wire's bending resistance is proportional to the wire's x-sectional area (I.e. diameter squared), so an 0.049" wire is still going to be more than 50% more resistant to bending than the 0.039" (1.0mm) wire that Nissan used in the Series 1 control cables.

For the sheathing, I think you'll get good results if you can find something with an inside diameter that's somewhere between 1.25 to 1.5 times the diameter of your wire.  Also, make sure that the wall thickness isn't too skinny (I think that bicycle cable has steel-wound 'armoured' reinforcement, so it should be just fine... provided the inside diameter isn't too tight on the wire).  If the sheathing you find isn't armoured, it looks like a wall thickness of about 1/16" should be about right.

As you put everything back together, the 'stick-out' lengths* for the sheathing should be between 1/8"and 1/4" for the three flap control cables and about 7/16" for the water valve control cable (* 'stick-out' means how far the sheathing projects beyond the edge of the pinch clamp).  You may need to play with these settings a bit to ensure good action and no interference with the flap/valve control lever.  My suspicion, though, is that the system will work just fine without too much fiddling, provided that all the flaps/cables/levers and the water valve are lubed and operating freely.  It's only when the parts start to stick that the wire gets overloaded.

Could you make something like this work?

https://www.amazon.com/Toro-112-9753-Choke-Cable/dp/B008TSZ41A/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1478716900&sr=8-16&keywords=lawn+mower+cable

 

Thanks for all the info Namerow.  I only plan on making a new cable for the fresh air flap as that is the one I have always had an issue with.  You are right, it will take a little trial and error to get it just right but it is do-able.

Good idea Jonathanrussell.  I actually bought a Dorman choke cable at the auto parts store but returned it as the wire did not look any bigger than the one I had.

I am going to purchase this set of cables at Wal-mart as their really isn't a bike store close to me.  I am going to take my calipers with me and measure it in the parking lot after I buy it.  If the wire is really small then I will return it as the cable housing will not be big enough.  Then a trip to a bike shop will be in order.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bell-Sports-Cycle-Products-7015886-Basic-Tune-Up-Cable-Kit/17619556

I followed your walmart link. It is hard to tell from the photo and I don't see it mentioned in the specs but it looks like stranded cable to me.

You might check a lawnmower or small engine repair shop.  The cables on those are two way actuators.

If you get stuck, another good cable source might be an aircraft maintenance shop at a local airport.  Or an online aviation products supplier, like Aircraft Spruce...

www.aircraftspruce.com

19 hours ago, jonathanrussell said:

I followed your walmart link. It is hard to tell from the photo and I don't see it mentioned in the specs but it looks like stranded cable to me.

Yeah, I would pull the stranded cable out and just use the housing.  Work has been so busy I have not been able to pick up my music wire from Grainger.  I am hoping to do that today.  I am taking my digital caliper with me to measure before I take delivery of it.