LPL/Saunders C7700MX/670 Lamp Intermittent

Kevin Caulfield said:

bared the wires, bared the wires of the new one, twisted them together and wrapped them in duct tape

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I believe this kind of splicing is asking for trouble sooner or later. You have substantial current flowing in these wires; just think how the socket failed, even though it was industrially designed. I would recommend some variant of a professional splicing fixture: crimped, screwed, or spring (tool-less). Even better: soldered (with heat shrink insulation, of course).

I'm a bit reluctant to squirt a bit of WD40

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WD40 is meant as a mechanical lubricant, not as a contact cleaner. Plus, along the same line as noted by SMBooth above, real contact cleaner is also flamable (don't ask how I know); so wait for it to evaporate before you power on.

Kevin Caulfield said:

But specifically to your point, I don't think there is an obvious access point for the wire tails, hence my patch job.

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Sorry Kevin, I'm only getting emails intermittently for some reason, perhaps because I signed out. At any rate, thank you for the follow up. It was the splicing part I was most curious about. It seems strange to me that the makers wouldn't give ready access to a part that is quite obviously NOT going to last the life span of the casing. Given that it's a five dollar part, if the engineers were trying to ensure the end user would bring in their enlargers for servicing and repairs, I for one would DEFINITELY not be forking out that sort of expense when there are viable options for the home user, even if said option is somewhat dodgey.
As mentioned by bernard_L above, a cut and twist might not be the safest of all possible solutions in the long run. I say this having done exactly that to the plug leading into the transformer! So, I'm okay with doing it with the lamp.... I just really, really would rather not have to do so and was hoping that you had found the magic door to the board or screws or whatever that those tails connect to inside the case.