E-Z Wiring #20 Fuse Box Issue

[SRA1]

I lost my gauges last week and had to dive into the electrical system for the first time. It has a 20 circuit E-Z wiring fuse block. When I removed the cover, the mini-fuse for the gauges was missing. Turns out it was stuck in the top of the cover, in some rubbery sponge. The sponge was apparently holding the fuse in the slot. When I tried to re-insert the fuse after checking it was good, it wabbles back and forth and falls out when I move the box back into the mounting position. I don't see any breakdown, diagrams or pictures on opening the fuse panel itself in the installation manual. It appears that the tabs\connection repair would have to be fixed from the bottom of the panel. Any guidance on how to open the fuse box or repair the individual fuse holders would be greatly appreciated. The box is pretty tight against the firewall, with wire bundles going in all directions, so I don't have any slack and there is no room to work. I can't figure out what holds it together, or, more importantly, how to open it. Thanks.

[lsversaw]

Can you just use a small screwdriver, from the front of the panel (the side the fuses plug in to), to bend the retaining clips for the instrument fuse so they are closer together and grab tighter? That would be simplest solution, so you've probably already tried it.

Be sure to disconnect the battery negative cable while you're working on the fuse panel. You probably already knew that.

On the ezwiring.com website it looks like their current 21-circuit harnesses don't use a bulkhead connector (or even subharnesses), and instead just hardwire everything directly to the fuse panel. That's a cheaper way to build a wiring harness, and may work fine for a aftermarket install, but it could make troubleshooting and repair more difficult. Like in this case. In addition, it would make it difficult to upgrade and repair a sub-harness like the engine harness or front light harness.

If you can't just bend the fuse clip back into place, I would ask the ezwiring tech support people how to remove the fuse block. Maybe there is a way to do it, ez-ily.