What I finally came up with is an expen$ive but nice all-in-one solution. First, most setups are going to be for PowerGlide or THM transmissions. Nobody is making anything for these old Hydra-Matics. There are specialty switches one could adapt, but they aren't cheap either. ($60/ea x 2)
So I found a programmable solution from my old friends at Dakota Digital. The box will provide neutral safety and backup light switching, as well as showing the gear the transmission is in.
The position sensor can mount on the transmission, or in the linkage someplace. It is basically a potentiometer and does not have any preset idea about what gear is at what position. It simply sends a signal to the decoder. When you program the decoder, you put the shift lever in a gear and tell the decoder what gear that is. When the sensor is in that same position again, the decoder remembers what gear sensosr position represents. If it is neural or reverse, it enables the started or backup lights accordingly. Pretty bloody brilliant for my needs.
The next issue is, how to display the gear position? DD offers a few options, and I chose to try two. The basic flat panel... which of course has the wrong layout but could be adapted. It could even be removed from this plate and maybe be incorporated into the original quadrant on the column? It was cheap.
The other one I chose is more expensive but smaller and more easily hidden or disguised in some way.Not sure how I would mount it or if I could secret it into one of the other gauges/controls somehow. I just thought I'd get it and do some visualizing with it to see if I get a brainwave somewhere. It could be painted, removed from it's bezel, put someplace inconspicuous but accessible, or ???
The bottom line is, I will get the backup light and Neutral switch I need, and I can do as I wish about the position indicator in any number of ways.
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