Series III ignition switch removal

[morgant]

I've been making decent progress on disassembling my '82 Series III 88" for a frame-over & refurbishment. Next on my list is removing the steering components, first of which is the ignition switch housing. The green bible says to use a centre punch to drive out the screws, but I'm not sure I quite follow. I assume that I shouldn't be trying drive it straight out, but instead trying to turn the head on the underside by using the centre punch at an angle, correct? Or should I be using a pin punch to drive it down from the top?

I'd like to keep the steering column & steering box mated & assembled for the time being, to limit mess until that stage of the rebuild. Plus, my Series III was originally a petrol, but was converted to diesel, so I'm highly considering swapping the ignition switch for a diesel version.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

[SafeAirOne]

When the factory installed the SIII ignition switch assemblies on the steering column, they used special bolts whose heads would snap off once the bolts were fully tightened. They did this, because anyone with a Fisher Price took kit could remove the plastic steering column fascia and unbolt and remove the ignition assembly, defeating the steering lock mechanism if normal bolts were used.

The good news is that the special bolts, with the broken-off heads are made of soft metal, so you just need to drill the wide parts off, then separate the ignition housing and turn the remaining threaded part of the special fastener out by hand.

I believe the petrol ignition switch itself can be swapped out with the diesel switch. I don't think there's a need to swap out the whole ignition assembly/

[mearstrae]

Like Mark said... And I've used the center punch method more than once, it's that same story on Range Rover Classics and Disco I's. I've also seen where someone has drilled two small holes in the head, opposite each other, lining up with one of those little dual pin wrenches, so they could use the same bolts over again.

'95 R.R.C. Lwb (Gone...)
'76 Series III Hybrid 109
'70 Rover 3500S

[SafeAirOne]

I shouldn't be trying drive it straight out, but instead trying to turn the head on the underside by using the centre punch at an angle, correct?

Yes, you should be trying to unscrew them using a center punch.

[morgant]

Excellent, thanks for the confirmation & additional info, guys! I did notice that the green bible suggested drilling it out if the centre punch method wasn't successful, but that sounds like the easier method. I see the ignition shear bolts are readily available from our generous hosts as well as others, so I'm not worried about drilling them out (though I will note that out hosts don't mark them as compatible with Series models, but other suppliers do).

Good point on swapping out just the switch instead of the entire assembly. I mainly just want to get back to the integrated glow plug position instead of the additional push button on the dash. Though, I read on one forum that that was common practice for ex-MOD petrol models that were converted to diesel, but it sounded like conjecture.

[morgant]

Yup, drilling out was easiest solution. If you have a screw extractor, no need to drill the head off as it's more than deep enough to grip into.