the Ranchero disaster & Brand X update

need to change the title of this thread. when does the list of little things get to the point you say 'I just need to rip this thing apart and start fresh' but that is far too long. when I do get to drive the gt it is fun and dependable, that almost was the case a couple days ago, just one of those things that say 'hey, I need some attention'. I started off that day expecting to get some running around town done, the day before I diddled around replacing burned out tag lights with leds and fix a nagging rattle caused by a broken plastic bushing on the hatch striker, parts I've had for months, of course the hatch was open and the interior lights were on for some time, never thought about the battery drain on a ancient interstate battery so when I went to leave the next morning guess what? The dump truck parked next to it was used as a charger for a few minutes and soon I was motoring down the road, stopped for a few gallons a petrol a couple blocks away hoping it would be charged up enough to start. Danm! Forgot the button for the gas door was not working, yes it is on the list, gas in the tank, crossed my fingers and it started, just a little slow to crank, made the important stops and headed to the shop for a quick check of the charging system and found the battery was bad, it was so old it had the coded date instead of a sticker!
got home and decided to see what was wrong with the fuel door opener. narrowed it down to the switch in the glove box, jumped online and found one listed on LMR, $35 but it was not available, found another that looked similar but the product description said it may not fit my car, that one was $40! not happening, (like mike says about the finger ) looking at this push button thing and thinking where is the gold hidden that makes it worth 35-40 bucks I see a way to take it apart, can't hurt, it don't work now' what's gonna happen? So what if I break it. push a couple tabs and it comes apart to show just how simple it is, push the button, it makes a u shaped piece of metal contact the blades where the connector plugs onto, one side was all cruddy with whatever toxic stuff floating around behind the dash/glove box area is, scrape the toxic crap out of the inside and clean the u shaped metal with a pencil eraser, stick it back together and it actually works. take that one off the list. What now? well it's back to the garage building stuff that seems to be moving kind of slow but is actually on schedule, the tunnel is filled in and well hidden from the throngs of immigrants that mike is worried about secretly invading my garage space, the gators have been returned to the swamp and there is yellow covered wires neatly stapled to trusses and conduit on the walls where the plugs will live. a box by the door with breakers in it, a couple boxes mounted outside for lights. I think we can put the ceiling up.
here are some picks of the switch just to prove how simple it really is.