Reply To: 55 Monclair back up lights!

[Virgil & Sue Klein]

Kent,

Assuming you have an automatic transmission the back up light switch is part of the neutral (safety/start) switch located on top of the steering column just toward the fire wall from where the wires exit the column from the steering wheel area. There should be a curved fixture screwed to the steering column. I believe the fixture is made of “bakelite”. The two female connectors on that fixture toward the passenger side are for the neutral safety switch. There should be two female connectors on the driver’s side of the fixture that are for the back up lights. There should be a hot wire to one side and then the other side’s wire runs to the back up lights. When you move the shift lever it lines up contacts with the contacts on the fixture on the steering column and the circuit is completed. It is actually a very simple system. Not to confuse things but some folks have rotated the fixture so that the back up lite contacts line up with the Park shift position so the car will start in Park and then the old neutral start contacts become the back up light contacts.