Thanks for the pointers guys. Turns out it was just the contacts. Used contact cleaner, may regret not spending more time on the contacts.
Would not start after all the messing around. Thought I may have messed up some wires when the steering wheel had to be lowered. Spent a lot of time on youtube, no joy. Had found a rusty Viper security system fob stuck under the seat a year ago. Started taking that tack. Turned out that I was not operating that correctly, push once then push and hold till the security light goes out. Likely resets itself when the battery is unplugged. Anyway, haven't missed very many driving days. Hoping cruises can still happen sometime this summer.
Put on new wheels, repaired a headlight motor and resurfaced the spare targa top so making use of the shutin time.