What everyone seems to have missed in my original post, or simply
didn't have an answer to, is my statement that the _original_ leather
nuts on the lifter wires (steel) were not causing any corrosion
whatsoever, and my observation that these original leather nuts were
almost black in color, as if they had been soaked in some solution for
the purpose of neutralizing the corrosive chemicals remaining in the
leather.

I wonder if they might have been soaked in neatsfoot oil?  However, I
am not adverse to using the plastic nuts.  Who in the U.S. supplies the
Kimber Allen nuts?

Dave Krall