Whoa - quite a pic!  I've been in that exact pose more than a few times in the last week!  

|UPDATED|4/16/2013 11:17:42 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

That, my friend, is the relay for the Alarm. So...if it is staying energized,  sounds like you have an alarm that is always armed, for whatever reason. Goody! MORE troubleshooting! 
Or...if you're not interested in the alarm working, just leave the relay out.

Excellent!  Problem solved at least for now - think I'll leave it out.  Haven't had a working alarm since I bought the car 11 years ago.  PO said it would drain the battery if it was used - guess he was right!  I messed with the fender switch sometime in the last year in a half-hearted attempt to get the system working, but it looks like all I did was make it so it was always energized.  Eventually I will get the system working, but will save that project for another time!

Dave, do you have the Service Manual for you car? It has the alarm system troubleshooting info in it. I have the info too, if ya need it. 

So glad you found it Dave! Now I might know why the alarm switch is missing on mine inside the front fender; probably was draining the battery! I still have the relay and flasher in the jack compartment but no switch behind the key lock on the fender.

Dave - Glad you found something - I'm curious now.....going out to pull the tray out of my compartments to take a look.

Thanks all!  I'm glad I found it, too!  Now I can start putting stuff back together and hopefully get it out on the road for a show here two Saturdays from now.  

Just to be clear, the key cylinder you insert the key into on the fender IS the alarm arming switch. The other, second switch is the "Anti tamper" switch. Its purpose is to set the alarm off if anyone removes, or otherwise tampers with the key switch. The key cylinder switch will have two wires coming right out of it, and the anti-tamper switch(which is in fact the same switch for the headlight warning) fits into a bracket underneath the key switch, and is pressed up tight against the key switch.

Barb, that fun pic has been posted here before....you musta missed it...

Dave, I'll get what info I have together and send it your way.

The harness that goes to the rear has one larger gauge orange wire which feeds both the box light and the main interior light (they work independently ground wires).  There is a splice in the stock harness in that bundle, if I remember right, under the door sill plate about mid-way of the seat, and the larger gauge wire turns into two smaller gauge orange wires that go to the interior and box lights.  My interior light experienced a minor short, and that orange wire actually melted all the way up wire to the splice but didn't blow the fuse.  I was working on the car with the door open, and realized I had a problem when the interior filled with smoke.  :(

Ironically, the two footwell lights (on the same fuse) continued to work.  It was a good demonstration that a short can draw current but leave the rest of the circuit functional.  Was enough current to melt the wire, but not blow the fuse.  Those orange wires are hot even with the doors closed, but current won't normally flow unless the doors are open which makes the ground path (or the small switch is made closed when you open the storage compartment).

Long story short: if that wire has a nick in it and it finds a ground, you'll slowly drain the battery.

The rear harness unplugs close to the fuse box.  You can pull it, remove the orange wire with a small screwdriver and plug the rest back in.  That'll disable the rear two lights.  See if you still have a current draw. 

Sorry this is so wordy.  But I'm an Engineer: why use five words when five hundred will do?  :)

Thanks for the info and advice - definitely had planned to isolate the two lights in the back but now I am fairly confident it's the alarm circuit which uses the same fuse. Joel sent me the wiring diagram for the system and it seems simple enough that I think even I will be able to troubleshoot and hopefully get it working like new. (I am an engineer, too, but not an electrical engineer). I ordered a new anti-tamper switch from Bair's yesterday - will start there! Would love to someday get all the retro 70's features of this car working someday, like the rinky-dink alarm system and all the buzzers and warning lights - getting there one step at a time.