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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ Left side ignition switch conversion-Alternate Idea
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 22 2017, 11:07 AM
I am considering an alternate plan for a left side ignition switch conversion. My plan is to alter a standard 914-4 steering column to accept a left side 911 ignition switch including the locking feature.
I would remove the right hand ignition switch and possibly fill in the area like some others have done. The other option would be to insert a push button switch instead of the key tumbler and use it to energize a windshield washer pump motor.
I will need to get some dimensions shown on the photo so I know how to modify the standard 914-4 column to accept the 911 ignition switch. It would be very helpful if someone can help with these dimensions.
Jeff B
Posted by: SixerJ Mar 22 2017, 05:04 PM
Jeff, I should be able to get the dims for you off my column
Might not be until the end of the weekend though if that ok
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 23 2017, 05:47 AM
Jeff, I should be able to get the dims for you off my column
Might not be until the end of the weekend though if that ok
That would be great. Thanks
Jeff B
Posted by: SixerJ Apr 3 2017, 02:32 PM
Hi Jeff, 1st off apologies for the delay, work and family has been crazy
Anyway here are the dimensions all in mm, plus a few more in case they help
A = 16.1
B = 20.1
C = 32.2
D1 = 42 to centre of hole slot
D2 = 46 to centre of M6 hole
Looking at the hole I would say the curved radius would match a 20 round hole, simply chop off the sides so it is 16 wide
Overall length of welded on U = 25.2 (material thickness 4)
Width of U externally at the widest part (open end) = 27 / it does narrow slightly down to 18 internally)
Open end of the U is 52 from the end of the column tube
U shape maximum depth (sticking out from the tube it is shaped into the curve of the tube at the closed end) = 16
M6 hole from the external corner at the open end of the U (both x and y) = 6
I'll link to this from the left side ignition thread in case it's useful
Anything else let me know
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 1 2018, 12:15 PM
I have restarted working on this project again this week. It was delayed since I had finish so many home projects that I put on hold to finish my 914-6 GT clone last year.
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=119197&st=120
The object of this conversion is to convert a 914-4 steering column to accept a 911 ignition switch on the left side while looking as factory correct as possible. This cuts the conversion cost considerable and makes the wiring modification much easier. When completed it will have a functional steering lock and use the heavier duty 911 ignition switch. Oh, forgot to mention the cool factor too!
After some research and some very helpful dimensional information from SixerJ it was time to proceed with modifying my steering column. The project is going to require several steps to accomplish:
1. Steering housing-cut off existing ignition switch protrusion then machine housing and fabricate filler plate.
2. Steering housing tube-machine window to accept 911 ignition switch and fabricate horseshoe bracket to clamp 911 ignition switch
3. Steering shaft-cut off ignition switch locking tabs and move them three inches down the shaft
4. Dashboard-cut out left switch hole and weld in new 911 ignition switch mounting
5. Modify 914-4 ignition switch wiring to accept 911 ignition switch.
The first step was to cut off the ignition switch protrusion from the side of the housing. This was rather easy to do with a cutoff wheel.
Then I set the housing up in a mill and machined about .08 deep ledge that goes up to where the arrows are pointing.
The machined ledge supports the slightly curved piece of stainless steel the fills in the gap where the ignition switch used to be. 
I welded a tab to the stainless and used the existing holes from the old ignition switch housing to mount the filler plate. I still need to paint or powder coat the housing black.
The next step is to machine window to accept 911 ignition switch and fabricate a horseshoe bracket to clamp the 911 ignition switch.
Below shows a test fit up of the ignition switch.
I still have a lot more work to go but I actually think this is going to work.
Jeff B
Posted by: gothspeed Mar 1 2018, 02:20 PM
Wow! it looks amazing!! it seems like it will work perfectly!! 
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 5 2018, 12:13 PM
I made some substantial progress this weekend.
I fabricated the horseshoe clamping bracket by using some 3/16 x 5/8 bar stock. I heated the steel up and bent it around a .71 diameter socket extension. I trimmed off the excess length and ground it to fit to the curved steering tube. During the fit up further down I tack welded the horseshoe bracket and then finish welding it out of the car.
The next step is to locate the ignition switch mounting sheet metal from R&D
I opened up the existing hole in the dash that was originally for the emergency flashers. Then I mounted the 911 ignition switch.
I trimmed the switch sheet metal to a rough size and then bolted the sheet metal to the ignition switch to determine where to cut the dash hole.
Once the hole was cut open I cleaned up the surrounding metal and then tack welded everything together.
Next came the final welding which was a little rough but it finished up with a little grinding and paint.
Jeff B
Posted by: Mueller Mar 5 2018, 12:26 PM
Nice work!
I see more "conversions" being done in the near future.
Posted by: raynekat Mar 6 2018, 12:01 AM
Curious about the wiring differences between the 914 and 911 ignition switches.
Is most of the wiring pretty similar?
Or are there additional wires needed or not needed when making the switch?
I do like the idea of relocating the ignition switch especially for a 914-6 conversion car.
Also the fact the 911 switch is more robust too.
Posted by: mepstein Mar 6 2018, 07:04 AM
Curious about the wiring differences between the 914 and 911 ignition switches.
Is most of the wiring pretty similar?
Or are there additional wires needed or not needed when making the switch?
I do like the idea of relocating the ignition switch especially for a 914-6 conversion car.
Also the fact the 911 switch is more robust too.
There was talk about an ignition switch harness adaptor so we could plug in a 911 switch without modifying the existing harness. Shouldn’t be difficult for someone who knows wiring. Impossible for me. I want a couple.
Posted by: 914forme Mar 6 2018, 07:28 AM
That is ingenious work yet lots of hassle, for a key on the left side.
Posted by: Larmo63 Mar 6 2018, 09:40 AM
Something I was planning on taking on in the future....I don't care about the locking steering feature.
Posted by: Larmo63 Mar 6 2018, 09:41 AM
And.......
Posted by: Chris Scott Mar 6 2018, 10:01 AM
Jeff,
I have already removed my ignition switch from the column of my 75 and have not done anything with the cover. 75 is plastic and i did not know that earlier ones were metal. Would you be willing to re-create the cover modification that you did? if so how much. Please pm me
Thanks
Chris
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 6 2018, 12:15 PM
Curious about the wiring differences between the 914 and 911 ignition switches.
Is most of the wiring pretty similar?
Or are there additional wires needed or not needed when making the switch?
I do like the idea of relocating the ignition switch especially for a 914-6 conversion car.
Also the fact the 911 switch is more robust too.
The wiring between the 914-4 and the 914-6 ignition switch looks to be rather straight forward. The only wire I am a little unsure of is the buzzer wire. I will try to document the wiring conversion sometime this week. I started on it this weekend but I am not quite done yet.
You are correct about the 911 ignition switch being much more robust which was part of my justification for doing the conversion.
Jeff B
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 6 2018, 12:56 PM
And.......
The part that will be difficult with using the 911 steering column is Integrating the electrical connections for the different turn signal and wiper switches. The non-locking 911 ignition switch should be electrically the same as what I am going to be doing.
I am not sure how the non-locking 911 ignition switch mounts into the dash. Does it use the same special angled mounting plate or is it just a straight hole though the dash?
Jeff B
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 7 2018, 06:47 AM
The wiring is very simple for the switch except for one wire for the key in the switch buzzer. On the 914-4 it (gray wire with brown stripe) just terminates into the ignition switch.
On the 911 ignition switch there are two posts that are on the side of the switch that activate the buzzer instead of just one. 
I assume that the gray wire with the stripe should terminate into one of the posts and then the other post should either be wired to hot or ground? I think it should probably go to hot but if I am wrong that could be a problem.
Anyone know which way the second post should be wired to?
Jeff B
Posted by: Larmo63 Mar 7 2018, 06:54 AM
My switch is early 911/912, straight into dash. The smaller 914 style bezel fits this switch too.
As for wiring the column switches, I will most likely forgo the plug ends and do point to point.
Posted by: gothspeed Mar 7 2018, 09:38 AM
Nice job doing the metal work for the ignition. That sheet metal piece looks new, where does one source such a piece?
Posted by: mepstein Mar 7 2018, 09:55 AM
Nice job doing the metal work for the ignition. That sheet metal piece looks new, where does one source such a piece?
Restoration design. They also make the metal washer. It’s ~ $8 so buy it at the same time.
Posted by: gothspeed Mar 7 2018, 09:59 AM
Nice job doing the metal work for the ignition. That sheet metal piece looks new, where does one source such a piece?
Restoration design. They also make the metal washer. It’s ~ $8 so buy it at the same time.
cool, thank you for the info
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 7 2018, 11:59 AM
Getting back to the modification….next step is modifying the steering shaft.
I used a cutoff wheel to remove the steering lock tabs off the steering shaft of the 914-4 shaft. This is needed since the 911 ignition switch mounts 3.00 inches further down on the steering tube.
After assembling the modified shaft into the steering tube I test fit everything to make sure the steering lock worked correctly. This modification is progressing well without any major issues so far.
I have two problems to solve before I can move forward. The first small problem is the gray wire with a brown strip that I mentioned previously. The other problem is how to space the three switches (headlight, emergency flasher, and fog light) to the left of the ignition switch. On the earlier cars without the dash vents there was more room to locate the switches.
Ideally I would move the emergency flasher to the right side of the steering column but this is somewhat difficult due to all the wires that attach to the back of the switch.
Jeff B
Posted by: gothspeed Mar 7 2018, 12:56 PM
I have two problems to solve before I can move forward. The first small problem is the gray wire with a brown strip that I mentioned previously. The other problem is how to space the three switches (headlight, emergency flasher, and fog light) to the left of the ignition switch. On the earlier cars without the dash vents there was more room to locate the switches.
Ideally I would move the emergency flasher to the right side of the steering column but this is somewhat difficult due to all the wires that attach to the back of the switch.
Jeff B
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 8 2018, 06:46 AM
I have two problems to solve before I can move forward. The first small problem is the gray wire with a brown strip that I mentioned previously. The other problem is how to space the three switches (headlight, emergency flasher, and fog light) to the left of the ignition switch. On the earlier cars without the dash vents there was more room to locate the switches.
Ideally I would move the emergency flasher to the right side of the steering column but this is somewhat difficult due to all the wires that attach to the back of the switch.
Jeff B
I looked at the relay again last night and I think your idea will be easier than I originally though. There are multiple wires coming to each terminal on the emergency flasher switch but I only need to use single wires for each terminal connection on the extension harness.
It makes more sense to me to have the emergency flasher switch to the right of the steering column than to try to squeeze it in on the left side.
Jeff B
Posted by: Rob-O Mar 8 2018, 12:56 PM
Would it be easier to just make a harness for the fog switch. Less wires than the emergency flasher, aren’t there?
Posted by: ClayPerrine Mar 8 2018, 02:19 PM
I moved my emergency flasher on my six conversion when I put in the 911 column and the key on the left. I just cut a long section with the plug out of an old scrap harness and spliced the wires together. Works great on the right.
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 8 2018, 04:06 PM
Would it be easier to just make a harness for the fog switch. Less wires than the emergency flasher, aren’t there?
I agree that it would be a lot easier to move the fog light but it just seems like it should be next to the headlight switch.
Jeff B
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 8 2018, 04:10 PM
I moved my emergency flasher on my six conversion when I put in the 911 column and the key on the left. I just cut a long section with the plug out of an old scrap harness and spliced the wires together. Works great on the right.
This is exactly what I plan to do. I looked last night at a spare wiring harness I have and the wires I need are in that harness. I’ll just have to get the male and female connectors.
Jeff B
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 8 2018, 04:16 PM
Below is the modified steering housing next to the standard 914-4 steering housing for comparison purposes.
Jeff B
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 9 2018, 07:02 AM
Finished up the ignition switch wiring harness this week. The ignition switch wiring harness wasn’t as hard as I expected since the wire locations at each end are basically straight forward. The wire locations are marked clearly on both the 914 ignition switch and the 911 ignition switch connector.
The connections are:
30-large red wire for main battery power
50-large yellow wire for starter
15- medium diameter black wire for fuses
X-medium diameter red wire for headlights
P-small gray wire for turn signal switch
?-small gray wire with brown stripe for key in ignition switch
I disassembled the 914-4 ignition switch to see if I could use the end of it to fabricate a connector. It would be much easier to just splice the wires into the existing wiring harness but I wanted to avoid cutting into the original wire harness.
I was able to use two of the pieces of the 914-4 ignition switch to fabricate the male end of the harness. I used a Dremel to cut slots down the side of the connector so that I could solder the wires to the contact pins. Once the wires were all connected I used JB Weld to seal up the slots on the side and back of the connector.
The next step was to disassemble the used 911 ignition switch connector.
I pulled all the wires out of the connector and then soldered in the new wires.
Below is the nearly finished wiring harness. I still have to figure out the gray wire with the brown stripe for the ignition buzzer. This isn’t real critical yet since I am not sure I even want the buzzer to work.
Jeff B
Posted by: gothspeed Mar 9 2018, 08:17 AM
workmanship is looking awesome! I like the custom connector adapter idea
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 9 2018, 09:35 PM
Thanks, just a few details to finish. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish it this weekend.
Jeff B
Posted by: 914werke Mar 9 2018, 09:38 PM
This is a great thread! Thank you
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 12 2018, 11:11 AM
I finished up the emergency flasher wiring harness extension as shown below. I used some wire from a spare wiring harness to make it look as factory as possible. Moving the flasher switch to the right of the steering column seemed like the most logical place for it. As others mentioned it would be easier to move the fog light switch so it is really a matter of preference.
The wiper switch needs to have the washer tube assembly removed since it will interfere with the 911 ignition switch. This will require going to the electric washer pump which was on my list to do anyway.
I also had to make a new sheet metal cover plate for the dashboard and cover it with some new vinyl sourced from 914 Rubber. This is needed since the modified steering column is smaller on the right side where the ignition switch used to be sticking out.
Once everything is assembled the pictures show what the final conversion looks like. I just need to source an ignition switch trim cover to complete the conversion.
For me it was worth the effort since I really wanted a left-hand ignition switch. It was an interesting challenge that has a factory look and feel to it. Hopefully this thread will be helpful to someone else considering a similar conversion.
Jeff B
Posted by: Larmo63 Mar 12 2018, 11:59 AM
Wow, that looks great.
Good info and step by step.
Now go race at Le Mans........
Posted by: sixnotfour Mar 12 2018, 01:34 PM
The plastic ones can be done with epoxy, and a filler piece..
for comparison , here is the one I did
Attached image(s)
Posted by: gothspeed Mar 12 2018, 10:50 PM
Amazing results! Thank you for sharing these intricate details.
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 13 2018, 05:57 AM
Amazing results! Thank you for sharing these intricate details.
Thanks for all the compliments.
Truthfully, I owe this 914 community for all the many helpful threads so many others have contributed over the years. I’m glad to be able to contribute something back.
Jeff B
Posted by: gothspeed Mar 13 2018, 02:31 PM
jkb944t if possible post pics when you get the final appearance bezel installed.
The plastic ones can be done with epoxy, and a filler piece..
for comparison , here is the one I did
Hmmm I didn't know there were plastic versions of this piece. Mod looks good!
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 13 2018, 03:45 PM
The plastic ones can be done with epoxy, and a filler piece..
for comparison , here is the one I did
The plastic body would certainly make the conversion easier. It looks great!
Jeff B
Posted by: jkb944t Mar 26 2018, 10:44 AM
The pictures below show the final conversion with all the trim installed.
Jeff B
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