Frayed red cable in 1977 Mercury 115 hp wiring harness - what are my options?

[Hayfever]

My Mercury 115 hp has been working fine, but when replacing the batteries this week, I found the red cable attached to the positive post of the cranking battery was corroded and frayed in two separate spots about 6 inches apart down in the depths of my '77 Ranger. When tracing the cable I figured out that it is part of the wiring harness that plugs into the socket on the engine. The Mercury website doesn't even recognize the 35 year old serial number and shows no parts. Any suggestions as to where I might find a whole new ignition wiring harness?

If I can't find one, could I splice in a new 1' section of battery cable? Would the load placed on that cable during ignition set up a potentially dangerous situation?

I am open to any suggestions.

Thanks in advance

[Chris1956]

Check the insulation for bulges and thin spots. Cut the bad cable away and get some new copper battery cable to replace what you cut away. You only want one splice. Get a copper butt connector of the right size (4AWG or 2AWG). Now flux cables, and butt connector. Slide shring wrap over cable. Crimp and then solder butt splice. Slide shrink wrap over splice and shrink it. Tape for extra insulation.