neutral switch,factory floor shift, linkage update Hey all, posted this under electrical, but may go better here. It looks like theres a place to mount a neutral safty /reverse ??? switch on a 71 GS Console floor shifter. Mounting position in the base plate , passanger side by the pivot shaft. Is this correct and where do I get the correct switch. Thanks.
If I am not mistaken, I think the only repro neutral safety switches available are for column shift. I think they are configured differently. I have always wondered if you could try to use the one for a column shifted car on a console shifted car.
A little off the subject, but my Chevelle came equipped with a console shift. The neutral start switch was located on the column and was controlled by a "backfeed rod", a fairly Rube Goldberg linkage that connected the console shift to the column. This linkage also controlled the PRNDL indicator, which was located in the bottom portion of the speedo. I wanted that linkage gone, both for ease in removal/replacement of the trans and for additional packaging room for my exhaust headers. I relocated both the original neutral start switch, and the PRNDL indicator, down to the console shift lever. I had to make a little bracket to mount the switch parallel to the travel of the shifter, and then used a small split pin to transfer the motion from the shifter to the switch. It's worked well so far... FWIW -:bglasses:
They may have changed in 71 to using the one on the column even on the floor shift. I changed my car to floor shift and used the one on the column and it works fine. I don't belive you could find a shifter switch anyway. I took the entire set-up out of a junked 71 and the switch was not on the floor shifter anyway. Give the column a try.
I believe through mid-70 console cars had it on the shifter. Mid-70 up it's on the column, period. My 04D 70 has a floor shift and column neutral safety switch.
I am still trying to figure out how in the world you can rig a switch on the column to actuate by shifting a floor shift. The 69's had a wiring harness that extended under the console and plugged into the neutral safety switch. There was no shift indicator on the dash in 68 or 69 for floor shifted cars. That may have started later.
When the ignition switch moved to the locking column it became necessary for all cars to have the column rotate as you changed gears, even if it was a floor shift. So all cars have the column shift linkage from the trans to the steering column. It just works backwards on a floor shift car. The cable from the shifter moves the shift lever on the trans, then the "column shift linkage" moves the column. So the column rotates, just as if you were shifting with a lever. PRNDL in the dash for all cars started in 70, when the console went un-lighted.
...The neutral start switch was located on the column and was controlled by a "backfeed rod", a fairly Rube Goldberg linkage that connected the console shift to the column.... :laugh: I'm tellin' ya, this thing was a real piece of work....:laugh:
So can you just take a switch from a column and use that same switch for a console shifter, mounted to the console shifter? Or was there 2 different neutral safety switches manufactured, one for column and one for a console?
Here's a few more requested pics from mine. I'm pretty sure this cam off of a '69. Attached with a small hex head screw at each end. More pics at the link. Let me know if it works. http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c92/abpics05/
No promises, but that does look like the same switch used on the column. As long as they were mounted the same distance from the axis of rotation, I don't see any reason why they couldn't be the same switch.
Re: neutral switch, factory floor shift, new find Think This is what we need to use the oem column shift linkage along with the floor shift cable. This way with the key off the floor shift will be locked. Also the inst. panel indicator will work. And the neutral switch will work on the column or shifter. See below pic and visit the web page and look under shifter cable parts. http://www.buickperformance.com/
That is the correct piece for a floor shift car. I was lucky enough to fin an original 10 years ago. That looks like a good repo. From Mike G. I think
The "z" rod running from that link is the same for coulumn and console shifters as said above column always moves when shifting on all automatic cars to operate switch and speedo shift indicator .
In 69, floor shifted automatic cars did not have a speedo shift indicator. For floor shifted cars, the speedo cluster had a blacked out area where the indicator letters were.
