OK.. so the Baja Beetle ('72) I received recently had a jimmied ignition switch. Looks like someone had broken in and did the typical screwdriver in the ignition thing. So the switch needed to be replaced. Never doing it before I figured.. how bad could it be?.. Ha. Oh the carnage! I pulled, ripped, broke and pulled some more. At the end.. The replacement part I had was for a '74 Beetle.. I destroyed the casing going around the column because I thought the new one would fit.
Needless to say.. today I ordered a new wiper/washer arm-switch, and a new turn indicator switch. Oh for the love-ah.. Now we'll see if I can get it all back together when my parts come in.. Retaining rings, c-clips, etc., etc... I dunno.. stay tuned.
Moral of story: Do your research first. THEN proceed to FIX problem.. not make it worse.
Try to look at the bright side, if the car was one year older it wouldn't have the modular switches and you'd also have to snake all of the individual wires through into the trunk for termination.
Do be cautious with those modular plugs, though, if they get damaged replacing them is no joy either (assuming you can even find some).
Mine was totally trashed too - Since it was a old road race car I couldn't believe that the po had left the steering lock functional -- -- I just said screw it and installed a AutoRod Control panel with a mystery switch to kill the power to it when I go streeting with it
Best I can recall, it was changed for `71 and changed again in late `74... so the same part was used for the "wired" `71 switch as for the first version of the modular one. Here's a picture of the latter, does it look like a match?
IIRC it's P/N 111 905 851N
One lock cylinder (the part the key goes in) was used for `68-`70 model years, then it was changed for `71 - the late one is about twice as long.
My baja is a 76 and it had a faulty switch. I had a 73 parts car so I figured I would install the good 73 switch. That turned into a huge hassle. I ended up having to swap the column and a bunch of other parts. I wasted a bunch of time trying to save a few bucks.
What is involved in disabling the built in steering column lock?
Remove the spring-loaded bolt which engages the slotted sleeve that's welded to the steering column. I don't know how best to do that gracefully, but what man has wrought he can destroy.
Once you pull the switch and yank the keylock/rest out, it's simply a matter of overcoming a couple of partial crimps.
My 73 T3 lock cylinder setup had a little setscrew that appears to be in exactly the right place to lock down the lock pin setup w/o removing it when run in tight, but I yanked the guts anyway since they were right there.
Addendum to Newtons first law:
zero vehicles on jackstands, square gets a fresh 090 and 1911, cabby gets a blower.
EZ3.6 Vanagon after that.(mounted, needs everything finished) then Creamsicle.
I took the easy way out when my 75 model buy ignition failed. I simply mount ann external heavy duty no name no brand ignition switch beside/under steering column, cut the original ignition wires and connect them to the new ignition switch.
