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After finally having a bit of time to work on my car, I’ve been going through my center console to clean up some of the wiring, and rebuild some components. What always surprised me was how rusty the bracket that holds the shift lever was, despite how clean and rust free the rest of the car is. So I tore it apart down to the nuts and bolts for cleaning, painting, and lubrication.
Once I disassembled the neutral safety switch I took the metal backing plate off of it to treat the rust. When I pulled it off the inner sliding plastic piece and two small copper pieces fell out with it. There’s also two small springs inside that were held in by some very nasty brown grease. After a thorough cleaning and new grease the springs are back in where they go.
So here’s my question. Do the small copper pieces go on top of the springs and then get pressed against the larger plastic housing of the switch? Or do they go somewhere else inside the smaller plastic piece? In the photo there is a small compartment on the left side that has a circle that very closely resembles the ones where the springs go. I figured I’d ask before I get it all back together and the car won’t start because of it.
For reference my car is a ‘76 auto, but they are the same ‘76-‘82.
Last edited by Piersonpie; Feb 19, 2026 at 06:50 PM.
Neutral safety switch rebuild
