I have! I actually did it twice to my drivers side front window. The first time it broke the plastic that hold one end of the cable, so I drilled a new hole and remounted the cable. Worked fine. I think the 2nd time was when I was removing the bad motor. When it broke again I finally just bought a new reg/motor assembly and lubed the sh*t out of the guides. No problems so far.

And yes, it was time consuming and a PITA. I don't recommend it unless you are very determined and have time to kill.