I'm on the hunt for a nut from a 1985 MIJ strat. It's the nut with the lever-lock and looks like this:




Anyone have any idea where I could find one?...or find someone that can get their hands on one.

Any ideas on making the lever-lock?

I've contacted a local guitar repair shop...they think they can have something machined. I'm out of options and haven't seen a price quote or anything. I wonder what it'll cost.

You may have hit on your only option - these are about as rare a piece of Fender hardware as there is since that design was only used for one year, maybe two at the most.