The neutral safety switch should be mounted towards the bottom of the steering column down under the dash.

 

Unless you have a console shifter, and then it's in the console attached to the shifter.

 

oh really ? yeah mine is in the console then, which means an easy fix, are we talking about a 20 minute job then if this is what it is? Even still would this explain why the car wasnt starting, i thought when these went bad they just allowed the car to start in any position, ill have to go and buy one of these tomarrow.

also by jump starting the ignition switch by using the screwdriver the other day on the starter, wasnt I by passing the ignition switch all together? I mean to say this part could still be bad correct? Becuase without jump starting it, the ignition wasnt turning over the engine? I guess tomarrow ill change out the NSW and see if that does anything. cant be that difficult.

 

If the car starts, then your igntion is at least in the "on" position. It just isnt exciting the starter.

 

I'm not sure what year they changed it,but my 81 is a console shifter and the nuetral safety switch is below the dash on the column with the reverse light switch.I always thought it would be in the console to,but when i took out the factory shifter to put my megashifter in,there are just wires running from the shifter,under the console to the column.That may be an 81 only thing though because of the ecm set up on them.

 

Not sure when they changed either BM. Maybe it is down on the column in '79. I know earlier are in the console.
Either way I sure wouldn't run out and buy a switch before testing it! You need to be sure there's power at the switch before purchasing a new one. If there's no power at the switch, then it's lost somewhere before that. If there's power at the switch, then you can simply pull the plug off, put a jumper wire across the plug and try it. If it starts, then you can go get a new switch. BTW-They almost always fail open, not closed.
By jumping it at the starter you've bypassed everything! Neutral switch, ignition switch, inline resistor to fuse block.

 

Yeah,it's wierd how they did them.When i changed the shifter i looked all around it under the console,because like you said thats where they usually are,took me a while to find the thing finally.It's also wierd because apparently they went back to mounting them under the console on the 3rd gen cars,because the 84 i had years ago,the switch was mounted to the side of the shifter.

 

Well whatever it is, my friend at the bodyshop is going to have a guy come out and look at it and tow it to his place so he can get it figured out. My buddy Greg at the shop sure is a nice guy, now I have a little less to stress out about.

 

I'm surprised the body shop didn't want to push it around. When I took mine to the body shop for work I was concerned about somebody driving it. The owner told me nobody drives cars around the shop, and they only get started to move them outside. He said it stirs up too much dust running engines to move cars, and so they just push them from place to place to avoid any more airborn dust than they have to.

 

I never thought of that, good idea.