Neutral Safety switch

[RDadsAvantiII]

Hi! I have a 1980 Avanti , its an automatic ,my Neutral Safety switch went out, and I am having a hard time trying to replace it, it looks like a chevy switch,does anybody know where I can find one or what type of car I should replace it with ,I would appreciate any help , Perry

[WayneC]

Hi! I have a 1980 Avanti , its an automatic ,my Neutral Safety switch went out, and I am having a hard time trying to replace it, it looks like a chevy switch,does anybody know where I can find one or what type of car I should replace it with ,I would appreciate any help , Perry

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wish I could help directly, but here's some thoughts.

I think the shifter is pretty much the same as the original Studebaker Avanti, and that original neutral safety switch attaches to the shifter bracket and (via short linkage rods) to the shifter lower lever, so it might be a Stude switch... if you have an Avanti parts book, it is #1558650 starter cut-out switch, illustrated on page 90 as item 0853-1. It is essentially a small squat cylindrical switch (rubber-coated as I recall) with a couple of levers at one end and a wiring pigtail at the other. If that sounds right, I'm not sure where you can get one, but I'd start by calling Nostalgic Motors 1-800-avanti1 and Studebaker International 1-317-462-3124. I didn't find the switch at their websites, but they will probably know if they are to be found. If not, then you may have to search junkyards looking at mid 60's Chevy's and Ford's (since the original Borg-Warner tranny was used on Ford's) and/or improvise.

I have a rather funny story involving that switch and a 66 Avanti I owned back in the 70's...

The Avanti's transmission seals were starting to go, so the tranny slipped in the morning on cold days, mostly noticed in reverse, until it got warmed up, and I wasn't anxious to pay for an overhaul. One snowy sunday night I came home half in the bag after partying and decided to park right beside the shelter of the house in about 3 or 4 inches of snow rather than in the backyard (the detached garage was full of project cars) so I wouldn't have to shovel as much in the morning if the snow collected even more. The next morning it was quite cold and there was about 6 or 7 inches of snow on the ground. Before going to work I decided to get some odds & ends together in the garage to be dropped off at a vendor's shop, so before doing that I started the Avanti and turned on it's heater so it could warm up and keep me toasty on the way to work, and proceeded into the garage through it's side door.

After puttering around in there about 10 minutes, there was a horrendous CRASH and the whole center front of the garage caved in about 4 feet!!!

My Avanti had slammed into the center post between the thin-metal garage doors!

It seems that several gremlins had bit me: 1) I had inadvertently left the tranny in "drive" when I shut the car down the night before, 2) unbeknownst to me, the "starter cut-out switch" had apparently failed sometime previous, and when it fails you can start the car IN GEAR, which I had just done, 3) the cold morning meant the choke kept the engine running at an increasingly faster clip as the engine oil warmed, 4) The tranny seals took a while to warm up and take hold... when they did, the tires jumped the end of the frozen snow ruts I'd formed the night before and the car lurched forward 30 feet until it rammed the post between the 2 closed overhead garage doors. Luckily none of the projects were damaged, and the Avanti only suffered some cosmetic damage, but I had to spend considerable time at a later date replacing the garage center post and straightening and repainting the doors (although they still retained enough waviness to continually remind me of my stupidity).

BTW, that 66 Avanti used the Stude switch, but I think it also had a Borg-Warner tranny, not the Chevy turbo 350 or 400 trannies that came later.

[RDadsAvantiII]

Wish I could help directly, but here's some thoughts.

I think the shifter is pretty much the same as the original Studebaker Avanti, and that original neutral safety switch attaches to the shifter bracket and (via short linkage rods) to the shifter lower lever, so it might be a Stude switch... if you have an Avanti parts book, it is #1558650 starter cut-out switch, illustrated on page 90 as item 0853-1. It is essentially a small squat cylindrical switch (rubber-coated as I recall) with a couple of levers at one end and a wiring pigtail at the other. If that sounds right, I'm not sure where you can get one, but I'd start by calling Nostalgic Motors 1-800-avanti1 and Studebaker International 1-317-462-3124. I didn't find the switch at their websites, but they will probably know if they are to be found. If not, then you may have to search junkyards looking at mid 60's Chevy's and Ford's (since the original Borg-Warner tranny was used on Ford's) and/or improvise.

I have a rather funny story involving that switch and a 66 Avanti I owned back in the 70's...

The Avanti's transmission seals were starting to go, so the tranny slipped in the morning on cold days, mostly noticed in reverse, until it got warmed up, and I wasn't anxious to pay for an overhaul. One snowy sunday night  I came home half in the bag after partying and decided to park right beside the shelter of the house in about 3 or 4 inches of snow rather than in the backyard (the detached garage was full of project cars) so I wouldn't have to shovel as much in the morning if the snow collected even more. The next morning it was quite cold and there was about 6 or 7 inches of snow on the ground. Before going to work I decided to get some odds & ends together in the garage to be dropped off at a vendor's shop, so before doing that I started the Avanti and turned on it's heater so it could warm up and keep me toasty on the way to work, and proceeded into the garage through it's side door.

After puttering around in there about 10 minutes, there was a horrendous CRASH and the whole center front of the garage caved in about 4 feet!!!

My Avanti had slammed into the center post between the thin-metal garage doors!

It seems that several gremlins had bit me: 1) I had inadvertently left the tranny in "drive" when I shut the car down the night before, 2) unbeknownst to me, the "starter cut-out switch" had apparently failed sometime previous, and when it fails you can start the car IN GEAR, which I had just done, 3) the cold morning meant the choke kept the engine running at an increasingly faster clip as the engine oil warmed, 4) The tranny seals took a while to warm up and take hold... when they did, the tires jumped the end of the frozen snow ruts I'd formed the night before and the car lurched forward 30 feet until it rammed the post between the 2 closed overhead garage doors. Luckily none of the projects were damaged, and the Avanti only suffered some cosmetic damage, but I had to spend considerable time at a later date replacing the garage center post and straightening and repainting the doors (although they still retained enough waviness to continually remind me of my stupidity).

BTW, that 66 Avanti used the Stude switch, but I think it also had a Borg-Warner tranny, not the Chevy turbo 350 or 400 trannies that came later.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[RDadsAvantiII]

Wish I could help directly, but here's some thoughts.

I think the shifter is pretty much the same as the original Studebaker Avanti, and that original neutral safety switch attaches to the shifter bracket and (via short linkage rods) to the shifter lower lever, so it might be a Stude switch... if you have an Avanti parts book, it is #1558650 starter cut-out switch, illustrated on page 90 as item 0853-1. It is essentially a small squat cylindrical switch (rubber-coated as I recall) with a couple of levers at one end and a wiring pigtail at the other. If that sounds right, I'm not sure where you can get one, but I'd start by calling Nostalgic Motors 1-800-avanti1 and Studebaker International 1-317-462-3124. I didn't find the switch at their websites, but they will probably know if they are to be found. If not, then you may have to search junkyards looking at mid 60's Chevy's and Ford's (since the original Borg-Warner tranny was used on Ford's) and/or improvise.

I have a rather funny story involving that switch and a 66 Avanti I owned back in the 70's...

The Avanti's transmission seals were starting to go, so the tranny slipped in the morning on cold days, mostly noticed in reverse, until it got warmed up, and I wasn't anxious to pay for an overhaul. One snowy sunday night  I came home half in the bag after partying and decided to park right beside the shelter of the house in about 3 or 4 inches of snow rather than in the backyard (the detached garage was full of project cars) so I wouldn't have to shovel as much in the morning if the snow collected even more. The next morning it was quite cold and there was about 6 or 7 inches of snow on the ground. Before going to work I decided to get some odds & ends together in the garage to be dropped off at a vendor's shop, so before doing that I started the Avanti and turned on it's heater so it could warm up and keep me toasty on the way to work, and proceeded into the garage through it's side door.

After puttering around in there about 10 minutes, there was a horrendous CRASH and the whole center front of the garage caved in about 4 feet!!!

My Avanti had slammed into the center post between the thin-metal garage doors!

It seems that several gremlins had bit me: 1) I had inadvertently left the tranny in "drive" when I shut the car down the night before, 2) unbeknownst to me, the "starter cut-out switch" had apparently failed sometime previous, and when it fails you can start the car IN GEAR, which I had just done, 3) the cold morning meant the choke kept the engine running at an increasingly faster clip as the engine oil warmed, 4) The tranny seals took a while to warm up and take hold... when they did, the tires jumped the end of the frozen snow ruts I'd formed the night before and the car lurched forward 30 feet until it rammed the post between the 2 closed overhead garage doors. Luckily none of the projects were damaged, and the Avanti only suffered some cosmetic damage, but I had to spend considerable time at a later date replacing the garage center post and straightening and repainting the doors (although they still retained enough waviness to continually remind me of my stupidity).

BTW, that 66 Avanti used the Stude switch, but I think it also had a Borg-Warner tranny, not the Chevy turbo 350 or 400 trannies that came later.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[WayneC]

Must be an echo in here!!!!

[theGman]

Great story, Wayne! I thought those types of things only happened to me.

[SBCA96]

I have a rather funny story involving that switch and a 66 Avanti I owned back in the 70's...

Was that the SAME 1966 Avanti that Jason bought from you? The white one?

Tom

[WayneC]

Was that the SAME 1966 Avanti that Jason bought from you?  The white one?

Tom

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep. It wasn't damaged, and I subsequently had the tranny rebuilt. Did I tell you I saw that same car (wheels looked familiar) advertised for sale a couple of years after Jason bought it, at a used car dealership? And, in a financial crunch after being laid off, I'd sold the '89 Avanti I'd purchased just before I sold the '66. After resisting as long as I could, I went to see it to make sure it was the same car, and it was, but luckily (I guess) it was already sold when I got there or I might not have been able to resist buying it back. By that time it was repainted black and had a few improvements to the interior. I had done a lot of work on that car, too, so I knew it was a nice car, worth more than the advertised price. Always wondered what Jason traded it on.

Give me a call sometime.

[SBCA96]

Always wondered what Jason traded it on.

I dont know ... Jason is weird. I lost contact with him years ago. I was going to

look him up, but his last name is one of THE most common! I have one of the

wiper arms from that Avanti. When I bought my 63 from him, it had NO wiper

arms, so I borrowed one to match up. He went and traded it in WHILE I had the

wiper arm still! I dont understand. He got hooked on SVO Mustangs and Merkurs.

Become a Ford guy, I bought Chevys. My guess is he traded it on a Merkur.

Tom

[Paulie]

Hi! I have a 1980 Avanti , its an automatic ,my Neutral Safety switch went out, and I am having a hard time trying to replace it, it looks like a chevy switch,does anybody know where I can find one or what type of car I should replace it with ,I would appreciate any help , Perry

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hello, Perry,

I ran across an interesting article in AOAI magazine issue #85, Fall, 1993, regarding the replacement of the back-up light switch with an inexpensive one that is not linkage operated. It required making some easily made custom brackets for its mounting and activation. Perhaps a similar modification would work for you. Who knows, some day your back-up light switch may also break and you would have to replace it also. Getting rid of the linkage-operated switches would be a plus. The modification using the mounting brackets described in the article could perhaps be changed to accept both new switches.

Best regards,

Paul Eikenbary