41 engine swap hydramatic to standard tranny

[ffreda]

I just finished swapping my 1941 engine/hydramatic with a manual engine/tranny. I am not sure what to do about the neutral safety/park switch and wires. I am pretty sure the car wont start while this is still part of the original hydramatic wiring harness. In addition, I get no spark at the coil when I jump out the circuit. Any assistance that will enable me to start this motor would be greatly appreciated.

[jackworstell]

I guess you had to remove the block to Hydramatic bell housing alignment pins ?  And also you installed the manual transmission without the benefit of block to manual transmission bell housing alignment pins ?

  Sure interested in knowing how this worked out.

Jack Worstell    #7558

[ffreda]

Hi Jack it was simple; I had a standard engine and tranny from a running parts car,lol. I don't know that I could have done the adaption necessary for the hydramatic block. My tranny had no reverse and the block turned out to have a crack in it. I took the advice of other club members based on my skill set and the cost of tranny rebuild.

[Steve Passmore]

Are you talking about the switch at the bottom of the column Frank?  My car doesn't even have a provision in the loom for this cut-out switch but I imagine you would just have to keep these two wires apart if thats what your referring to?

Jack, I have just installed a manual box on the back of my 41 auto block. Cut off the dowels and fitted new ones into the appropriate holes. 41 onwards  had both sets of holes for the dowels of manual or hydro positions.

[Paul Phillips]

Frank
There are two parts to the equation on the 41 harness.  The neutral switch requires the trans selector to be in neutral to enable the starter circuit.  That one you can jump out.  The other part is the feed via the generator - that prevents the starter from working when the generator is producing voltage, i.e. engine running. Could be that part of the circuit was affected in wiring of your swapped engine. The wiring diagram is in the shop manual and has been posted a few times before. If you can't find a copy, please post back and I can scan for you tomorrow.

Paul

[ffreda]

Hi Steve, the swap wasn't to bad until you throw in the wiring. I am not sure how to proceed, though I am sure others here will come to my assistance.

[ffreda]

Hi Paul, the neutral safety was a switch that has two wires which I could jump out. On the other hand, I never thought about the cut out for the starter and that seems like a more complex problem. I do have a shop manual that I will check to see if I can figure out the wiring solution to this problem you call to my attention. Thanks

[Jay Friedman]

Many years ago I installed a manual transmission in my '49 which previously was Hydra-matic.  Instead of just wiring together the 2 wires previously connected to the neutral safety switch I installed a starter "kill" switch.  I did this by installing an ordinary "single throw" switch I bought at a hardware store at a difficult-to-see place on the frame.  I then spliced on extensions to the 2 neutral safety switch wires down to the new switch.  The new wires are dark-colored and not very visible in the gloom under the hood. 

When parked at a car show or other place where I can't keep an eye on the car, I turn the switch to the off position.  As such, if the ignition switch were turned on and the starter button pushed, the starter would not operate.  A clever thief might figure it out eventually, but may conclude the battery is dead and give up.

[ffreda]

Hi Jay, I think your suggestion is a good idea and I will look into the switch placement this weekend. As of my last try though I have no spark coming from the coil, ugh. I will keep running down the wiring seeking the culprit.