Now that the dash is out

Yup.............Carefully inspect the entire wiring harness in there, and especially where it has come in contact with edges of the inner steel dash structure.....there should be some points where tabs have held it in place......

Over time, vibrations can cause wear through on the outer wraps, putting the harness in danger of shorts..........AND, because at times previous owners may have replaced dash panel screws with others that were too long or perhaps sharp tipped (it's amazing what you might find), you could have punctures in the harness around the left side specifically.........

A careful inspection is better than a whole lot of smoke and headache later on.