The only thing I could suggest is going to a junk yard and hoping it's in good condition or praying that you could find the part on eBay or something.

Personally I'd bite the bullet and just buy the new part. You have a problem already so why inherit any more problems ya know? But $80 is $80 so one alternative is to try and clean up the connector to see what condition you can get it in. Worst comes to worst you just buy a new connector anyways.