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Working on the '61 over the winter. Pulled the instrument cluster to work on some gauges that haven't been working right. Put it all back together and noticed the ignition switch wasn't lining up properly. Lower gauge housing hole for the switch has two notches at 9 and 12 o'clock. The ignition switch body has three raised ribs at 12, 4 and 8 o'clock, so it doesn't fit into the housing. Ran the car all last Summer with no problems, and have had this switch out previously. Looked at some of the major vendors and all their switches look like what I have already. The lower housing was just purchased last week from a well know vendor, and it's the same as the old housing. Am I missing something here? Appreciate any insight into this 'situation'.
Working on the '61 over the winter. Pulled the instrument cluster to work on some gauges that haven't been working right. Put it all back together and noticed the ignition switch wasn't lining up properly. Lower gauge housing hole for the switch has two notches at 9 and 12 o'clock. The ignition switch body has three raised ribs at 12, 4 and 8 o'clock, so it doesn't fit into the housing. Ran the car all last Summer with no problems, and have had this switch out previously. Looked at some of the major vendors and all their switches look like what I have already. The lower housing was just purchased last week from a well know vendor, and it's the same as the old housing. Am I missing something here? Appreciate any insight into this 'situation'.
It's been a few years since I was putting in the switch - but as I remember, the switch didn't "lock in" to the notches. I kept working with the screw on ring until I could keep the switch from turning when I put in the key. If you haven't changed anything, it might be a matter of just tightening it up. Do you have the On - Off - Start plate on it too?
Close up Dash
I just had mine out on my 61. Agree with above poster about tightening I'll try to post a good pic so you can see if there is a visible difference
The housing has two notches in it. The switch has 3 bosses around its circumference. Only one of those has the extension on the top. That extension interfaces from the rear with the left hole. The unthreaded
chrome ring that goes on the front has a tab on the back and interfaces with the top hole.
The small nub on the fatter of the three fits in the hole to the left as you look at the dash. That keeps the switch from spinning. The slot at the top accepts the bezel to keep it from slipping. The other nubs on the switch just fit up against the back of the dash to keep it even. The nub that fits to the left is shown clearly in the picture in the above post by 62corvette.
Here's another thread from a few years ago that also explains it:
'61 Ignition Switch Question
