Mariner 25 HP throttle stripped, how to replace

The tiller throttle on my 25hp mariner (SN: 695 S 016466)is stripped where the shaft enters the plastic cam holding the ends of the throttle cable (shown below. After searching the forums, I found a replacement shaft with the plastic part attached, but I'm not sure how to get the cables off of the old one. The look like the lead end will push out the top or bottom once the cable is perpendicular but there's not enough play to get them to that position.

Do I need to undo the cables from the throttle body end (losing all those adjustments), to be able to swap this part out. Just looking for confirmation before I start undoing things.

Thanks
Brian

Short answer, YES, you must remove the cables from the engine end "first".

You remove the link rod (going across the cam where the cables terminate on the side of the motor), back off the tension screws/bolts (where the cable goes through), then remove them from the cam.

If you are going to save the cables, mark whichever one goes to the top of the cam - will help when you are trying to put it back together.