My 56 T-Bird will start in any gear? Automatic

[Old Redneck]

This is a new one on me, It will start in any gear. Scarry the engine died in Reverse and I turn the key and it started. Scared me a bit. I don't like that and will half to fix. How do I fix that? Ken Stewart

[51504bat]

The neutral safety switch is either bad or possibly out of adjustment. Not familiar with one on your T Bird but my guess is that the switch need replacing.

[dmsfrr]

My '55 Bird does the same thing, but the switch is entirely missing. Wiring for it is bypassed somewhere under the dashboard. I always warn everyone at a shop if I take it somewhere: front-end shop, tire store, etc.

It mounts to the underside of the shifter and also has a second pair of wires for the Backup Light(s) half of the switch.

The wires for the NSS are Red with a blue stripe. From the Start position of the ignition switch down to the NSS on the shifter then back up to the "S" terminal on the starter solenoid.

Last photo....
I suspect the 2 small black screws mount the switch to its bracket via slotted holes that are the adjustment.
.

[Daves55Sedan]

Most likely, the starter neutral switch contacts went bad before you bought the car and the previous owner bypassed the switch by simply disconnecting the two red wires from the switch (located at the base of the steering column on full-sized cars) and connected them together.
The starter neutral switch is only an "enable" switch. When the gear shift is in "neutral" the contacts close and allow current to flow from the ignition switch when the key is turned to "start" then through the closed contacts in the neutral switch.
Disconnecting the two red wires and connecting them together effectively takes the neutral switch contacts out of the equation and would allow engine to be started in any gear.
On a T-Bird, that switch and red wires might be under the transmission hump. Others here who have T-Birds can direct you as to where to look for the switch.

[paul2748]

From the factory, the car only started in neutral. The Tbird parts suppliers have modified ones that start in park and neutral

[Daves55Sedan]

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Originally Posted by paul2748

From the factory, the car only started in neutral. The Tbird parts suppliers have modified ones that start in park and neutral

Yes, but it is a BAD idea to get in the habit of having the gear select lever in "Park" to start the engine with any '50's Ford-o-Matic. The park pawl can be ruined if the car is on even a slight incline, which causes you to force the gear selector out of park, unless you had remembered to pull the parking brake handle (while foot is on the brakes) prior to placing the gear select lever in park when you parked the car last.
That is why Fomoco originally made the switch contacts engage in neutral.
In later years, they beefed up the park configuration in the transmissions which allowed starting in "park" without the danger of damaging anything.