I WON!! I won the battle with the doggone ashtray spring with the faithful assistance of a lighter, zip tie (melted it), two sets of pliers and a hot glue gun. I melted the zip tie to get a good tight fit around the spring at it's two locations, then bent the spring a little more to make for a more solid fit in the hole. Then I put a dab of hot glue on it to hold it all firm. IT WORKS GREAT. Being such a perfectionist it really matters to me. So all you readers who couldn't help me, there's your solution. HA! I won.
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89 LX 5.0 Notchback, near showroom condition, Flowmasters (my dream since 16)
98 Grand Cherokee 5.9 (Very rare and hence a driveway princess), 90 VW Jetta Diesel (200K, 45 MPG and all hers), 87 Cutlass (mine) 84 Cutlass (170K of faithful service)87 Bayliner 2250 Cuddy