ignition switch doesnt work

[nrt69]

Howdy. I just bought a sweet one owner 66 Coronet that was sitting in a barn since 1974. I know mice have been living in the car and i haven't crawled under the dash yet to see how bad it is. My question is this: the engine wont turn over using the key/ign switch. I can jump the starter from the positive batt to the starter relay though. Any ideas how to troubleshoot this?

thnx

[BLK 68 R/T]

Could be a lot of things. Do you have a test light or multimeter, wiring diagrams? I would check the neutral safety switch wire on the relay. It should be the very bottom left (driver side) connection on the starter relay. If there is no wire hooked up, just ground that tab and try it. Make sure the shifter is in park or neutral though. That's a good starting place.

[nrt69]

i was thinking neutral safety also.  when you say ground the tab, you mean run a wire from that tab to the engine, frame, firewall, etc, right?

[BLK 68 R/T]

i was thinking neutral safety also.  when you say ground the tab, you mean run a wire from that tab to the engine, frame, firewall, etc, right?

Yes, all it needs is a ground.

[nrt69]

grounding the neutral safety wire worked.

[BLK 68 R/T]

  Now just need to figure out where the ground issue is with the wire connected to the starter relay as it should be