Idiot light UPDATE!!!
 

Success!!
For anyone battling this problem, I’m going to tell you how I fixed it!...
First, let me say DO NOT remove the dash pad. I did, but gained absolutely nothing by doing so.
Next, the worst part (for me) was the speedometer cable. You really do have to stand on your head to get to it, and I never did get to see where it clips on, I just had to find it by feel.
The weirdness in the lights, aside from the blown bulbs, was caused by bad contacts.
Before installing the new bulbs, I took a tiny piece of 800 grit sandpaper and folded it so it would fit into the bulb sockets, then gently pushed and wiggled it around about 6 times. Then I gently sanded the 2 tips of the socket where they touch the board, just until shiny, about 3 or four swipes each.
Then I used the same sandpaper and VERY GENTLY sanded the copper contacts surrounding each socket hole, until they looked like a new penny.
After that, I sanded all the contacts for the 2 dash plugs, and then the plug parts coming from the dash.
Lastly, I took some hemostats and carefully lifted each of the metal fins in the 2 dash plugs, as some of mine seemed to have squished down over the years.
There were several people who saw the panel and told me I needed to order a new circuit board, and I’m so glad I tried this first!!
On a side note, I did first try using a big pink pencil eraser, and it didn’t seem to help any. HOWEVER...while I had it handy, I ran the eraser over some stubborn stains on the plastic interior pieces, and it took them right off!! Who woulda thunk it?!
I hope this will help somebody in the future, and I once again thank everyone here who was rooting for me and the latest Old Woman dilemma!
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Re: Idiot light UPDATE!!!
 

An FYI on the speedo cable,if you remove the first clip holding it to the subframe under the hood you gain a inch or 2 so you can unhook it from the gauge a little easier.