[Nic1979]

Have a 1979 El Camino, got the non- tilt steering wheel off and am atempting to replace starter switch. How do I get to it.And replace it. I can't get the car to turn over.

[willys36@aol.com]

Welcome to the board. You are new so don?t know the ins and outs yet. This forum is intended for general introductions only. Tech questions posted here don?t get the coverage they deserve. Repost your question in the interior forum and it will have a good chance of being answered. Read the Newbie threads at the top of every forum for lots of good site info like this. I will transfer it for you.

If you mean the actual switch itself, it is very easy change on those columns. Crawl under the dash and look on top of the column about half-way to the floor. You will see a fist-sized (blue?) plastic rectangular switch with two big wiring plugs entering the passenger side. Remove those plugs. On the Driver's side there are a couple of small machine screws that hold the thing to the column. Remove those and the switch should lift right off.

If you mean the key cylinder, that takes a little more work and a hub pulling tool ot remove the steering wheel. It has been discussed many times on the board. Do a search on GM Steering Column and you should find all the info you need.

You can see it on top of the column in this picture.

[1982 SS]

I did this with my 82 Elky just a few days ago. It has the tilt column but the swithc is in the same location. I just dropped the column by undoing the two bolts that hold the column up. there are three screws, two hex heads and one phillips. The High beam switch has to come off first. it is the one on the left looking from the drivers seat. Then the starter switch can be accessed easily. a simple swap, but make sure that the slot on the underside of the switch is in the same location as the one you pulled from the car. If it is not you can move it with a screwdriver. it just slides up and down. Reverse removal for install. About the only hangup that I can see is that the shift indicator on the dashboardis connected to the column with a wire and a clip. The clip and be slid on and off with relative ease. Anything I missed?