I took mine completely apart when I bought my boat several years ago. Also had to have the ss housing that sits in the bilge rebuilt. I bought all new unions for the piping and all seems good. The cable is not hard to replace if you do it prior to the old one breaking... Just cut the eye on the old at the centerboard, tie the new one to the old and pull it through from the bottom up.
My centerboiard works fine... easy to wind up since I serviced the sheeves in the ss housings.
Good Luck