QuestionMy son just had a 1950 F1 Ford pickup delivered to my driveway. The truck appears to be in excellent condition, the engine looks very clean, and the starting mechanism sounds good when I push the starter button. The problem is no key. I have called places like Mac's to find a replacement cylinder, but without luck so far.
Two issues. First, I would like to start the truck to move it into a garage. It looks like I should be able to hotwire the ignition system easily (that is, it appears easy to get to the wires on the back of the cylinder and they are held on by nuts), but I don't know what I am doing. Any advice?
Second, should a locksmith be able to fit a key to the cylinder, or do you have suggestions on how I might find a replacement one?
AnswerFords are the world's easiest cars to "hotwire".
Find the ignition coil - it has 3 wires on it, 2 that go to the distributor cap (caps if this is a V8 flathead engine), and to the wiring harness. The wire that does NOT go to the distributor is the one that provide the battery power to run the engine. If you connect a piece of wire from the hot terminal of the battery (the one that does NOT go to chassis or body ground - this terminal also is connected to the starter relay) to the connection on the coil specified above (the one that does NOT go to the distributor), you have done all you need to do.
Tap the starter button and you should be off and running. Of course you need to pull this added wire off to turn off the engine!
You have a number of options to get around the missing key in a more elegant manner:
1. You can buy a complete replacement ignition switch - they come with keys. NAPA may still stock these. I found one for my 64 Ford truck at NAPA last year.
2. You can call a locksmith and have him make you a key. The bonus of this approach is that this new key should also operate the door locks, unless someone has played games and switched locks on you. You can also remove the ignition switch and carry it in to the locksmith, probably saving yourself a pile of bucks.
3. If you don't care about authenticity, you can save a lot of money by picking up a "universal" replacement ignition switch at any auto parts store - you don't need the "key start" feature, but you may have trouble finding one without it. If you want to keep little kids from playing with the starter button, you can always transfer the "start" wire from the factory push button to the new modern igniton switch - the "start" wire goes to the "S" terminal on the new switch - then the key is required to crank the engine.
I hope this is clear enough!
Dick
