Splicing in a regular fuse might work...I don't really know. However, years down the road if you have a problem in that circuit, you (or whoever you sold the vehicle to) might have a hard time troubleshooting without the original components in place. Just my opinion, but restoring things to original condition and securing the bundle away from the exhaust would be the best bet in the long run.
By the way, after referring back to the Haynes manual, they also suggest soldering the splice and protecting with tape or heat shrink. Apparantly soldering can be done on the fusible links.