[njsteve]

And here's what I found inside when I pulled the fuse box apart: a factory riv-nut with white overspray on it, wedged between the main power distribution wires, between the two halves of the fuse box assembly. These were the steel collapsable nuts that they used to mount things like mirrors to the doors.

As you may recall, this car was built while the UAW was still deciding whether to go on strike (which later occurred in early calender year 1972, shutting down the entire F-body plant for the rest of the 72 model year).

So far this is the second "mystery gift" left in this car by the disgruntled assembly line workers. The first was the extra side marker lamp bezel stuck beneath the mastic sound deadener, under the rear seat. Left there, no doubt, to make some mysteriously, un-locatable road noise.

Can you imagine this car going 114,000 miles with that little piece of metal just hovering above the main fuse terminals? That was a complete electrical melt-down just waiting to happen.