Just FYI, I was in the market for a throttle cable and took a gamble on the Lokar kit. Their "TPI '88 & earlier" end, included in TC-1000TP (stainless), TC-1000TPU (black plastic), TCP-1000TP (polished), TCP-1000TPU (polished ends on black plastic), and XTC-1000TP (black stainless), fits on the Olds QJet throttle nubbin with enough room for the stock retainer. I used some large diameter M8 washers to fix the "round peg, square hole" problem. The clevis can slide right off the cable to use a retainer ball. It's a little small - looks like it could be pulled through the retainer on the throttle pedal after enough time - so I added a #6 nut on the cable to rest against the throttle pedal.

2' is more than enough cable (for '68-'72 at least).

In other news, looks like the Edelbrock universal throttle cable hanging on the wall at the parts store had a similar setup, but included a stock-style plastic retainer.

I've had two repop cables fail - both were the type with the small eyelet. On one the housing completely separated from the retainer. On the other the liner failed so I could feel the inner cable grabbing and releasing against the housing. This last one I had lubed with graphite right when I got it.
Similarly, I've had several repop shifter cables fail. Cables come out of retainers, liners fail causing difficult shifting... Frustrating. I'm running the Shifterworks cable now and couldn't be happier.

 

Thank you for the hands-on information. These are always very helpful when looking for reliable and correct fit parts.