So, about 2 months after the car went back on the road, the original clutch cable in my '73 142GL broke about 4-5 inches away from the pedal attachment end, so I replaced it with a new Volvo OE cable.

About an hour ago (2 months from replacement), that broke right at the crimp between the cable and the yoke end that attaches to the pedal arm tip. The tip has not come off, the wire strands have each broken right there.
Not 'quite' the same mode of failure as tthe first one, but similar

So what conclusion do I draw?

I think, maybe (?) I did two things wrong- I didn't grease it internally, and I had to give it about a 70-90 degree twist to get it to align. I actually felt that was 'wrong', but it took relatively little force (strong thumb pressure from my forearm at an awkward angle), but I attempted to redo it, and the cable had a 'bend' warped into it from being coiled in the bag, preventing it from sitting in such as way as to be properly lined up for my going under the dash to connect it and tighten it. Might have helped to have two people...

I *thought* the nylon lining meant you didn't have to grease it... was that completely incorrect?

The cable was *remarkably* cheap for a dealer part... I didn't note where it was made. It had much much coarser threads on the adjustment than the original. Are the cables of that much reduced quality??

FWIW, the cable looks like a 240 but according to Volvo does not quite interchange. (So experience with a 240 should apply here...)

Clutch is stock. Pedal is heavy for a stock clutch, IMO, but not really freakishly so...

Car was sand blasted, and grit got in a lot of places, but the clutch action doesn't bind per se, just a bit heavy... nor does it feel, or with the engine off, sound, "gritty".