Got a new N64 cartridge connector, it's in bad shape

[Cyber Akuma]

I was trying to clean up and get my old N64 in working order again in order to install HD mods to it, but I was having trouble getting it to work. Most of the time the power light came on but there was no sound or image. I eventually tracked this down to the cartridge slot, it seemed loose, if I held the cartridge down at an angle it worked fine every time. I don't have any tools that I can use to try to bend the pins back and last time I tried to do it with the memcard slot in my N64 controller I just ended up breaking the pins, so I tried to find a replacement connector.

Trying to find a replacement however was a nightmare. Almost every attempt to find a N64 connector just auto"corrected" me to NES connectors.... and the very few N64 connectors I could find were clearly 3rd party ones intended for use in DIY cartridge-reader projects or emulators, not as a replacement for the actual cartridge slot in a real N64.

I was finally able to track one down on eBay.... I got it a few months ago, but wasn't able to get around to installing it for a while.

Today I got ready to install it... and I noticed that it was in pretty bad shape. There was a lot of corrosion all around it. I tried cleaning it off with alcohol, with Deoxit, and even scraping it off with a razer blade... but it didn't help. The Alcohol and Deoxit didn't seem to do anything, and the razer blade sometimes scraped the corrosion off, but usually did nothing or even scratched the connector itself. Here are some images of it:

https://imgur.com/a/30fnso1

Is this thing beyond salvaging? Or does somebody have a suggestion for how I can clean this out properly? Anyone have any suggestions what I can do?

[Ziggy]

Try soaking it in vinegar for a while then scrub it with a brush.