Electrical Nightmare (HELLLLP!)

[dismiss@earthlink.net (The Judge)]

A little story:

Today, thanks to the helpful suggestions from Paul, I was out at the
various boneyards in LA.  The most recent cars I could find were 86 or 87
5K's.  I was looking for extra bulbs for the instrument cluster and a new
cig lighter assembly.  I found an assembly that had never been used ($1.50)
and about 20 instrument cluster bulbs (total $2.00).  Most of the cars were
gutted, and I wondered why I needed 20 bulbs.  I thought it was because I
didn't like paying $5.00 per bulb at the dealer or because I wanted to come
away with something.  I soon found out why I needed the 20 bulbs.

Anyway, on the way home I noticed the "light" around the cig lighter was
not working, but I did not get a spare.  While replacing the cig lighter
assembly, I noticed the wire on the bulb was off, so I tried to put it back
on.  I did this, and turned the lights on.  POOF!  All the instument
cluster, rear diff backlights, fog/defrost backlights, AC/Heat/Blower
backlights and the radio backlights were out.  The reason (I think) was
because a piece of metal in the ashtray assembly touched both the leads on
the cig lighter bulb (so I figure).

The fuse is fine, and the other electrical components on this fuse are
working.  What the hell happened?  I noticed the cig bulb appears to be
blown, and it appears there was a short circuit that torched all the bulbs.

What a pain in the ass.  I can replace the rear diff backlights and the
instrument cluster lights (done it before), but the bulbs in the center
console (AC/Heat/Radio/Fogs/Defrost) look tough.  How do you pull that
assembly out?  Are those bulbs tough to replace?

These are the "backlight" bulbs, not the "switch" bulbs.  What happened?

PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN!

Thanks,

The Judge                                       ^
                                    O-----------O-----------O
'90 80Q                            /\           |           /\
'86 VW Scirocco 16V Wolfsburg
'85 5K (real son of a bitch)      /  \          |          /  \
                                 /    \         |         /    \
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                                          ------O------
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                                    The Ol' Scales of Justice