VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 Ignition switch wiring?

We are finally wiring the 51 with an all new harness and new iginition switch. And each of the three posts are not labeled so we are not certain which post is which. It does have the light bulb holder that should be the top?

on the back of the switch we have one terminal should be the "aux"
one terminal is live for everything
3rd is for accessories

our problem seems to be that the one would be live with the power attached and then either we had 2 others live or none.

should it be off in one position, second postion one post hot and 3rd postion two post hot??????????????????????

On my '51 Chevy, the left position of the ignition switch is off and it requires a key to turn on. The center position is on and the right position is also off....but in this location a key is not required to turn the ignition on.

For more information check your owner's manual and your shop manual.

As stated, 3 positions, but no accessory position.

Dad...? All I can say is I hope your less confused than I am...

My 52 is the same. When the key is turned to the most left position and taken out, the ignition is locked. You can not start the car. When the key is in the center position, the car is off but the key can be removed and the ignition can still be turned to the right position and start the car.

Thanks for all the position comments

We are just unsure of the wiring posts on the back of the switch as they are not marked.

I plan to call the chevy vender to see if they have identifying specs

How many posts are on the back of the switch? If two then there will be one for the positive and the other to what ever is switched off and on. Since there is no accessory position I would expect only two. My '51 is not handy to check.

There are three terminals and we talked to Ed from NationalChevy and he said the top was battery, left bottom aux,
bottom right was ignition.
Our new switch was bad! another on order.

On my '51 Chevy, the left position is locked. In the center position the ignition is ON and in the right position the ignition switch is off but it can be turned to the center "on" position without the key to start the car.

Your owner's manual should explain how the ignition switch works.

Think he was talking about a '53 or '54 switch that had an Acc. position. The '51 only has a locked, on and off positions and no ACC so doesn't need the third terminal.

Says 1951 in his post.. but he may have the 54 switch. Good observation.

It's a 51 car
Chev association says it may be a bad switch
New one on its way
3 posts is correct
We shall see?