I can appreciate your sentiment, but these rinky-dink itty bitty parts have
always cost an arm and a leg.

I went looking for a particular used part a few months ago and was stunned to
discover a wealth of online salvage yards with online search engines that were
really fantastic and precise. A few hours of searching and emailing for
particulars turned up a few possibilities. Within a week I had the used part in
hand. This was from www.olstons.com, in Nebraska if you want to start there.

Google for {salvage search import} and similar and some more should come up.

The guys on the other end of the toll-free numbers at these salvage yards are
usually fielding a bunch of customers' requests all at once. Be patient and
charming, and they'll come through.

Of course, if you have a salvage yard locally, it's always fun to go and explore
them for precisely your part. It may be cheaper than online. My local Honda
salvage yard is sometimes cheaper and other times a ripoff.