came apart OK - found real issue was the one outside connector (hidden by taped batch of wires in pic in first post) was not fully inserted - it pried out pretty easy - was surprised to see fairly clean terminals with decent amount of dielectric grease on them. Looks like a PO was at this in the past and while the wires look original, the actual terminal block might have been replaced - it was not at all brittle, more of a fiberglass feel than hard plastic, and just did not show 50 years of age. Anyway now that I see how they come apart I can unplug the others, clean and grease them. thanks for help on this. Gotta say before we found connector was having a problem, it was a very sick feeling when I turned key and all was totally DEAD.