ok, the white switch is towards the firewall. shoving my head further up shows the two switches you guys are talking about are on the metal plate under the steering wheel. ya, looks like I'm the culprit of switch in hole disease, too. I have these round rubber feet we got from something I never used... gonna stick one of those on. With any luck, that's all it is.
Brake switch was okay, clutch wasn't.
You guys are awesome! I'll update if it fixed.
Of course I got lazy and didn't clean the rust off the pedal before sticking the pad on... So it's probably going to fall off, but at least I know when it quits why it did.
