[scook]

Welcome. Those switches look a little tired from long service - could be bad inside from corrosion but probably one of the things Bradford said. You can check the switch for continuity with your new multimeter. Others may have other suggestions about connections when you are doing wiring, but I suggest spending a few bucks to get a good crimper and some heat shrink connectors (after crimping, you hit them with a heat gun to shrink the plastic protective sleeve and activate some goo inside that seals it tight).

Something else I did on my '85 was to remove any wiring I found to not be doing anything. On a boat that age, there have probably been several generations of electronics and on mine, thy left the old wiring - on separate occassions I pulled out a 5 gal. bucket pretty near full of unused wire. It makes it MUCH easier to trace out the working wiring, but if in doubt, don't take it out.

A suggestion about Harbor freight - pay for the extended warranty (their prices will still be unbelievably cheap and their standard warranty is short). You can get a heat gun there cheap too.